【UNIT 4.】What is art?

※Article :

Fears over German art

There's been a heated debate in Germany about restitution claims after a painting by the expressionist artist, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, was recently sold at auction in New York. The painting had been hanging in a museum in Berlin, but in August, the city authorities returned it to the grand-daughter of its original owners.

The restitution was justified on the grounds that the sale of the work in the 1930s was prompted by their persecution as Jews under the Nazi regime. But critics said the painting was neither looted by the Nazis nor sold under duress and many accuse the authorities of caving into pressure from auction houses and art collectors.

Such was the public outcry that the Culture Minister, Bernd Naumann, decided to invite museum directors and legal experts to attend a meeting in Berlin today. It's understood the federal government wants to introduce a central database to keep track of the recent wave of restitution claims. Ministers are also likely to step up pressure on museums to carry out their own research into the ownership of works of art, according to government guidelines.

※Summary:

The city authorities in Germany returned a painting which was drawn by an expressionist artist to the original owner's grand-daughter. There is a heated debate in this topic, for the painting had been hanging in a museum in Berlin. The critic accuse the authorities are only acting because of the large number of complaints received from auction houses and art collectors. The federal government wants to introduce a large collection of information held on computer about a particular topic which is easy for people to find and use to keep track of the sudden increase of restitution claims. Ministers are pushing for quicker action on museums to carry out their own research into the ownership of artworks.

※Reaction:

After reading this article, I think it is not so necessary to return those artworks to their original owners for two reasons. First, since the original owner had forgotten the ownership, there is no need to mention. The other reason is citizens are accustomed to the artwork, instead of returning it, why not let every passengers admire it whenever they pass it? If it is extremely important for the authorities to consider moral problems, then notifying would be enough.