The list of participants at the Prague Conference is available here. 

On 10 June the UK's Holocaust (Stolen Art) Restitution Bill passed the committee stage in the House of Commons with unopposed amendments.  Cross party support has been secured for the Private Members Bill which was introduced by Andrew Dismore MP and had its first reading in January 2009.  The bill will permit national museums to restitute art in their collections which has not been possible till now.  The Commission for Looted Art in Europe has been advising throughout on wording, scope and historical background.  Barbara Follett MP, Minister, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, endorsed the bill on behalf of the UK government, as did Shadow Minister Ed Vaizey MP for the Conservatives and Lembit Opik MP for the Liberal Democrats. The Bill has its final reading in the House of Commons on 26 June 2009 and, if successful, passes to the House of Lords where it has to pass through the same stages (second reading, committee, and report) before becoming law.

On 24 June the UK Spoliation Panel issued its seventh report, on a claim for eight drawings now in the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.  The Report concludes that, whilst the predominant reason for the sale of the drawings in 1933 by the owner, Professor Dr Curt Glaser, was Nazi oppression, the moral claim was insufficiently strong to warrant the transfer of the drawings.  The Panel recommended, however, that whenever any of the drawings is on show, the Courtauld should display alongside it a brief account of its history and provenance during and since the Nazi era, with special reference to the claimants’ relationship with and historical interest in the drawings.  For further details, click here.

Robert Edsel's research team are seeking help in completing the biographies of the Monuments men and women.   Since publishing Rescuing Da Vinci in 2006, Robert Edsel and his team have been researching the stories of each of the Monuments men and women who worked to save and rescue the works of art threatened or seized by the Nazis.  Their research has identified scores of Monuments men and women who are all listed on his website.  For some, they have  complete biographies, and in most instances they have a photograph. However, for others they have varying degrees of information. In some instances, just a name.  They are appealing for help in completing these biographies. Anyone with information, including photographs, should contact them.  To see the list and make contact, click here.

On 1 June 2009 the state and municipal museums in Munich announced the start of a collaborative research project whose main aim is to publish (in summer 2012) a book on the Jewish art collectors and dealers of Munich and their art collections.  Project partners are the Bavarian State Painting Collections, the Jewish Museum Munich, the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, the Munich City Museum, the Museum Villa Stuck, the Bavarian National Museum and the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung.  For further details, click here.   

The lists of works of art for which immunity from seizure is currently sought by UK museums are available for review. Prospective loans for 'The Polish Connection' at Dulwich and for 'Futurism' at Tate Modern include works with queries for the 1933-1945 period. The lists are online here. 
 

In 1946 the Allies compiled a list of red flag names of dealers and individuals active in the wartime art trade and in art looting. The list, showing the activities of each individual, and a searchable index are available here. 

The Dutch government has set aside €1m for its 400 museums to conduct provenance research. The exact parameters are yet to be determined, but the extent of the research will be wide-ranging.
For further information, click here.  

The Nuremberg Municipal Library contains over 10,000 looted books found in the library of Julius Streicher, the publisher of the antisemitic newspaper Der Stuermer and taken from private collections all over Europe. The Library is working in partnership with the Commission for Looted Art in Europe to trace the former owners and a first list of 115 former owners from Nuremberg and Franconia has been published. Click here for details and further information.
 

A series of short films on Nazi-looted art is available on YouTube.  Click here to view.