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Art Law

This research guide lists selected treatises, databases, and web sites relevant to art law. The initial sections list materials of general relevance. Following sections focus on materials relevant to the subtopics of art theft and fraud; art valuation; cultural property; artists rights (moral rights); and museum policy. Reference librarians are available to help you use these resources and suggest others for your particular art law topic.

Please note that a Harvard University ID and PIN is necessary for access to many of the following resources. Databases on LexisNexis and Westlaw are limited to Harvard Law School affiliates.

Treatises and Overviews

Art and Museum Law KF 4288.A7 L56 2002

Art, Artifact & Architecture Law KF 4288.A944 and on Westlaw

Art Law Handbook KF 4288.A948 2000

Art Law in a Nutshell KF 4288.Z9 D8 2006 and on Reserve

Art Law: the Guide for Collectors, Investors, Dealers, and Artists. 3rd ed. Reference KF 4288.Z9 L47x 2005 and on Westlaw

The Deskbook of Art Law. 2nd ed. KF 4288.D8 1993

Law, Ethics, and the Visual Arts ILS KF 4288.A7 M47 2007

Scholarly Articles--Legal, Art, General

The following sources provide citations to (and sometimes the full text of) articles in academic journals. For art law topics that are very "legal", the legal periodical literature will be the best place to start. It will also be worthwhile to look for materials in art-focused academic journals. For art law topics that are tangentially legal, very narrow, or that have likely been explored by scholars in the humanities and social sciences, it will be best to also consult general academic articles.

Legal Periodical Articles

Journals and Law Reviews on Westlaw
860 academic law journals and other legal periodicals in full text. Coverage varies, but is generally early 90s to present.

U.S. & Canadian Law Reviews Combined on LexisNexis
660 academic law journals in full text. Coverage varies, but is generally early 90s to present.

Hein Online Law Journal Library
600 titles (but undergoing aggressive growth) in full text, page-image format. Coverage is back to the first issue for most publications. Searching features are somewhat limited. Best access is by title, author, or citation.

LegalTrac
Index of about 1000 legal periodicals from 1980 to present. Full text is seldom available. Also available on LexisNexis (Legal Resource Index) and on Westlaw. On Westlaw, links are provided to full text when available.

Art Periodical Articles

Several indices below describe journal content but do not provide the full text of articles. If you see a button, click it to potentially locate an electronic copy of the article. The button generates a window with direct links to the article if available through a Harvard subscription database and/or to the HOLLIS catalog record for the journal if owned by a Harvard library.

Art Full Text
1984 to present; selected full text since 1997. Index of 400 art and architecture journals and museum publications, 130 of them in full text. International in scope. Also known as Art Abstracts or Art Index. For coverage of the period 1929-1984, search Art Index Retrospective simultaneously by using the check box at the top of the screen.

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
1930 to present. Index of 2800 architecture, archaeology, and urban planning journals.

Index to 19th Century American Art Periodicals (1840-1907)
1840-1907. Index of 42 journals on U.S. art published in the 19th century.

Bibliography of the History of Art
1973 to present. Index of 4900 journals, books, proceedings, and dealers' catalogs on European and American art. Also known as Répertoire d'Art et d'Archeologie (RAA) and International Repertory of the Literature of Art (RILA).

ARTbibliographies Modern
1970 to present. Index of 2400 journals on modern, contemporary, and alternative arts.


General Academic Periodical Articles

Academic Search Premier
Index and full text from 1990s to present. Covers 8700 journals, magazines, and newspapers, 4700 of them in full text. Represents a complete range of academic disciplines. One of Harvard's largest online collection of full text, searchable journals.

JSTOR
Full text of 400 journals from their first issue in page-image format. Does not include the most recent few years of journals.

PAIS
1972 to present. Index of 1600 journals on public policy. Adds descriptions of 8000 books and reports per year. International in scope.

Arts and Humanities Index
1975 to present. Index of 1100 arts and humanities journals. Adds selected relevant articles from 6800 other science and social science journals.

Social Science Citation Index
1956 to present. Index of 3300 journals on a range of social science disciplines.

Paper Topic Ideas

Resources below include art news publications and art law journals. Browsing these sources is a good way to generate topic ideas or refine a broad topic.

Art News

Arts Journal
Published weekdays. Compiled information from newspapers, magazines, and other publications on arts and culture. Register to receive daily or weekly email alerts.

Art Newspaper
Weekly newspaper. One column is specifically devoted to art law. Archives are only accessible by subscribers but back issues are available at the Fine Arts library.

ArtQuest
About 200 essays on art law topics by a British art lawyer.

HLS Arts & Literature Law Society
This organization is "dedicated to offering a forum for HLS students interested in the arts, as broadly defined but not limited to include the visual arts, performance arts, and literature." Provides an art news feed on the top page.

Art Law Journals

Most of these titles are available online in LexisNexis and Westlaw. The following links are to their catalog descriptions.

Image Databases

CAMIO Library
Database of images from the Art Museum Image Consortium.

ARTstor
Images and accompanying information provided by the Andrew Mellon Foundation.

Visual Information Access
Descriptive records with thumbnails and usually larger, high-resolution images of objects or images owned, held or licensed by Harvard University.

Resources by Topic

Art Theft and Fraud

Overviews and treatises

Art Crime ILS N 8795 .C66 1994

The following links lead to descriptions of items in the library catalog on selected subjects related to art fraud and theft. (Mostly books but possibly journals, reports, theses, etc.)

Web sites of potential relevance

Art Loss Register
Database of lost and stolen art, antiques and collectibles. Focus is Holocaust claims.

FBI Art Theft Program
FBI site related to art crime internationally. Provides a list of theft notices and recoveries.

Getty Provenance Index
Provenance index, other research resources, and a guide to Holocaust-era looted art resources.

Interpol: Stolen Works of Art
News, explanations, and laws related to stolen art and cultural antiquities.

Most Wanted Art Recovery Project
Extensive information on art crimes, art thefts, major cases, and art recovery.

Art Valuation

The following links lead to descriptions of items in the library catalog on these selected subjects related to art valuation. (Mostly books but also journals, reports, theses, etc.)

Web sites of potential relevance

Art Sales Index
Site promotes purchase of its publications but also offers some interesting graphs and charts on art value over time.

SCIPIO: Art and Rare Book Sales Catalogs
Describes art auction and rare book catalogs for sales from the late sixteenth century to auctions not yet held. Records include the dates and places of sales, the auction houses, sellers, institutional holdings, and titles of works.

Cultural Property

Overviews and Treatises

Archaeology, Relics and the Law KF 4310 .C86 2005

The International Trade in Art ILS K 3791 .B37x 1988 Also available as An Essay on the International Trade in Art, 34 Stanford Law Review 275 (1982) Paul Bator.

Law and the Cultural Heritage ILS K 3791.P76x 1984

The following links lead to descriptions of items in the library catalog on these selected subjects related to the illegal trade of cultural property. (Mostly books but also journals, reports, theses, etc.)

Web sites of potential relevance

AATA Online
Index of 470 journals on conservation and heritage management. Register to use advanced search features and to set up alerts.

Looted Cultural Property 1933-1945
Information from 40 countries on cultural property protection including laws, official reports, and other research resources.

Cultural Property
News, publications, and reports from the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Documentation Project (Wartime Cultural Losses)
Several reports relating to art, archives, and other types of cultural property displaced as a consequence of war. Focus is on World War II.

International Cultural Property Protection
Documents, FAQs, and news related to cultural object and archaeological site protection from the US Department of State.

Museum Security Network
Cultural property protection listserv archives and extensive links on heritage protection,

State Historic Preservation Laws
From the National Conference of State Legislatures, a database of citations to state laws related to historic properties, archeological sites, or culturally significant unmarked human burial sites. Created in 1999.

World Heritage Convention
UNESCO site on the World Heritage Convention, a treaty concerning the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage worldwide.

Artists Rights/Moral Rights

The following links lead to descriptions of items in the library catalog on these selected subjects related to droit moral. (Mostly books but also journals, reports, theses, etc.)

Web sites of potential relevance

Artists Rights Society
General information aimed at artists. Lists artists rights societies worldwide.

Museums and Museum Policy

Overviews and Treatises

The Law (In Plain English) for Galleries 2nd ed. KF 2042.A76 D82 1999

Museums and the Holocaust: Law, Principles and Practice ILS K 3788 .P34x 2000

A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections Special Coll Ref KF 4305 .M35 1998

The following links lead to descriptions of items in the library catalog on these selected subjects related to museums and museum policy. (Mostly books but also journals, reports, theses, etc.)

Web sites of potential relevance

Association of Art Museum Directors
Code of ethics, statement of values, position papers and reports on various topics including relationships to corporate sponsors, looted art, and cultural artifacts.

International Council of Museums
Laws, news, statistics, and ICOM's prescribed Code of Ethics for museums.

Policy and Ethics
The Museums Association (UK) offers short explanations and longer documents on a series of issues related to museum policies and ethics.