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NEW YORK, Jul 25, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Many U.S. museums have done little to see if works in their collections were looted during the Nazi era, a New York organization said Tuesday.
Despite agreeing to make such work a priority, museums including the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Conn., say they have spent no money on researching the former ownership of their European art holdings and had no staff members devoted to it, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany says.
Others have done little beyond identifying which of their works fall within the parameters that might mean they were looted, The New York Times reports.
The Claims Conference notes that some museums -- including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston -- have made substantial headway in their research.
The group, which negotiates for reparation payments to Jewish victims of the Holocaust and their heirs, became involved in the question of looted art last year after it became concerned the American Association of Museums was not doing enough to monitor museums' progress, the Times said.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
