Stolen Art Alert

Sale of Grant Wood drawing, Parson Weems’ Fable, leads to controversial U.S. District Court ruling that commercial publishers of consigned art must make reasonable inquiry into the terms of the consignment agreement

Testing the jurisdiction of the UNESCO Convention, a Canadian court rules that the Canadian implementation legislation is not retroactive. The Canadian government lost its case against two art dealers accused of illegally importing a Nigerian Nok antiquity in 1981 (see SAA, January/February 1982).

Confidentiality upheld in appraiser's estate dispute – Maine probate judge rules that title to appraisals does not pass to his heirs.

Mary Ellen Guerra, who has edited the Stolen Art Alert since 1981, leaves IFAR staff. Her position will be taken by Lynn Stowell Pearson.