The Repatriation of Cultural Property Regardless of how important artifacts leave our country in the first place, their repatriation to Canada is a significant re-addition to our cultural heritage.
Fine Art and Antique Appraisals There are several different kinds of appraisals, and the concept that an item can have different values depending on the reason for the valuation can be a bit of a brain teaser.
The Art Theft Industry For as long as items of cultural heritage have been created, theft of them has existed.
Benevolence Donations of artwork, decorative and functional objects and archival fonds build our nation’s collections, contribute to our collective memory, enhance our cultural patrimony, and preserve records for the generations ahead.
The Theatrics of Buying at Auction Auctions offer buyers a wide range of goods—everything from the exceptional to the exceptionally mundane—and can fetch sellers a covetous sum, or on regrettable occasion, a sad pittance. Nonetheless, the auction house is a stage where the theatrics are as entertaining as the acquisition of a desired object is satisfying.
Lessons Learned in Commissioning Art The commissioning of artwork is pervasive throughout history. Works were typically commissioned by the monarchy, the wealthy, and the religious, with the desire to honour personages, represent religious or allegorical themes for didactic or decorative purpose, and to pay homage to historical events.
