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International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR)

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In December 2008 the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) in New York expanded its online educational resources with two new important additions:  Art Law and Cultural Property and Catalogues Raisonnés. 

On its website IFAR states that "As an educational and research organization, IFAR has amassed an enormous body of material in its primary fields of interest. In its new Educational Resources section it makes some of this material — as well as new information — available to the public in electronic format as part of its on-going effort to provide tools to help people make informed decisions about the legal, ethical, and scholarly issues involved in the collecting and exhibiting of art.  Updated regularly, the section features an extensive search system and a network of internal and external links." 

Art Law & Cultural Property

Providing major new resources that govern the acquisition and ownership of artworks—International Cultural Property Ownership and Export Legislation (ICPOEL) gathered from close to 100 countries, and U.S. Case Law and Statutes (CLS) - summaries of legal cases in IFAR’s primary fields of interest.  This section also contains foreign cultural affairs contacts and a legal glossary.  The aim of this excellent resource is "to "help users navigate the increasingly large and complex body of legislation and case law relating to the acquisition, ownership, and authenticity of art objects. The site also provides images of artworks that figure in the cases, a section on Professional Guidelines, information on contacting foreign government officials, summary overviews of each country’s ownership and export legislation, and the full text of key documents — in the original language and also English translation.


Catalogues Raisonnés
The catalogue raisonné is an essential tool in conducting provenance, authentication, and other art historical research on catalogues raisonnés. Based on IFAR's extensive work on these resources, IFAR here presents two related new bibliographic databases: one of published catalogues, the other of works-in-progress. Also featured are a glossary, a users' guide, and links to other relevant sections of this Website and other sites.

Provenance Guide
This overview of key resources aims to help guide those conducting provenance research for the critical years, 1933-45.  As IFAR notes, establishing a reliable provenance — the history of ownership — is an important step in documenting a work of art. It is not an easy process and for many works, gaps inevitably remain.

Collectors’ Corner
The Collectors' Corner is a new and expanding resource offering practical and important information for collectors—both experienced as well as those getting started—on the subjects of researching, authenticating, documenting, insuring and caring for their artworks.


Background on IFAR
"The International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) is a not-for-profit educational and research organization dedicated to integrity in the visual arts. IFAR offers impartial and authoritative information on authenticity, ownership, theft, and other artistic, legal, and ethical issues concerning art objects. IFAR serves as a bridge between the public, and the scholarly and commercial art communities. We publish the quarterly IFAR Journal; organize conferences, panels, and lectures; offer a unique Art Authentication Research Service; and serve as an information resource."


For further information about all IFAR's activities, click here
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