Art Loss Register
Encyclopedia
Art Loss Register is an evolving, computerized international database which captures information about lost and stolen art, antiques and collectables. The range of functions served by ALR has grown as the number of its listed items increased. The database has become potentially useful for collectors, the art trade, insurers and worldwide law enforcement agencies. The ALR is a London-based, independent corporate off-spring of the New York-based, non-profit International Foundation for Art Research
(IFAR).
In 1992, the database comprised only 20,000 items; but it grew in size nearly ten times during its first decade. Organizations like ALR are important in the process of raising global awareness of art theft and the effort to thwart the thieves.
Among other explicit goals, IFAR was created to compile information about stolen art. In response to the growth of international art thefts, IFAR began publishing the “Stolen Art Alert” in 1976.
By 1990, IFAR was updating its catalogue of stolen art 10 times a year. The magnitude of the problem overwhelmed what had grown to be over 20,000 manual records. While IFAR had been very successful in recording the details of losses, that was only a good first step.
In 1991, the ALR was first established in London. Its founding shareholders included insurance and art- seller investors. Significant capital investment was needed so that IFAR could be computerised and so that the database made available to worldwide law enforcement agencies and others.
Selected timeline
International Foundation for Art Research
International Foundation for Art Research is a non-profit organization which was established to channel and coordinate scholarly and technical information about works of art. IFAR provides an administrative and legal framework within which experts can express their objective opinions...
(IFAR).
In 1992, the database comprised only 20,000 items; but it grew in size nearly ten times during its first decade. Organizations like ALR are important in the process of raising global awareness of art theft and the effort to thwart the thieves.
History
The first steps towards ALR began with the establishment of IFAR in New York in 1969.Among other explicit goals, IFAR was created to compile information about stolen art. In response to the growth of international art thefts, IFAR began publishing the “Stolen Art Alert” in 1976.
By 1990, IFAR was updating its catalogue of stolen art 10 times a year. The magnitude of the problem overwhelmed what had grown to be over 20,000 manual records. While IFAR had been very successful in recording the details of losses, that was only a good first step.
In 1991, the ALR was first established in London. Its founding shareholders included insurance and art- seller investors. Significant capital investment was needed so that IFAR could be computerised and so that the database made available to worldwide law enforcement agencies and others.
Development
In response to the growth and development of IFAR, museum officials revised some policies based on an assumption that discussing theft would scare away potential donors. The change from policies of secrecy to ones which emphasize openness was gradual, mirroring an expectation that publicizing theft is likely to promote recovery. The ALR was able to grow as a result of this small shift in perceived conventional wisdom.Selected timeline
- 1990: Artworks stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner MuseumThe Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens...
in Boston includes VermeerJohannes VermeerJohannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime...
's ConcertThe Concert (Vermeer)The Concert is a painting by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The 69 centimeter high by 63 centimeter wide picture depicts a man and two women playing music. It belongs to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, but was stolen in March 1990 and remains missing to this day...
, three Rembrandts and five works by DegasEdgar DegasEdgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
. - 1989: IFAR received reports of about 5,000 thefts.