The Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan (PCOL) Scheme provides legal protection for cultural objects on loan from overseas lenders for temporary public exhibition in Australia.

PCOL and QAGOMA

QAGOMA is an approved borrowing institution under the Australian Government’s Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Scheme. Information about the scheme and the Commonwealth Protection of Cultural Objects on Loan Act 2013 can be found on the Commonwealth Ministry for the Arts website.

QAGOMA conducts due diligence research into the provenance of international works of art to be borrowed for exhibition and works acquired into our Collection. For further information, see:

• Acquisitions Policy
• Loans Policy
• Provenance and Due Diligence Policy

For the information of prospective vendors, sellers or donors of works of art, in order to comply with the PCOL Act, QAGOMA uses the following Provenance and Due Diligence Checklist, template Purchase Agreement and template Deed of Gift for acquisitions and donations into the collection:

• Provenance and Due Diligence Checklist
• Template Purchase Agreement
• Template Deed of Gift

These documents will need to be completed in the event of work/s of art being brought into the Gallery’s Collection. QAGOMA’s curatorial staff are able to assist in the completion of this documentation.

Current and upcoming loans

• Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses
• APT11
• Fairy Tales

Enquiries and claims

QAGOMA welcomes enquiries regarding a work that will be, or has been, imported into Australia for temporary exhibition.

What information do I need to provide to make a claim or enquiry?

To assist us to investigate and respond promptly to claims and enquiries, please provide the following information:

• your name, address and contact details;
• if you are making a claim or enquiry on behalf of someone else, that person’s name, contact details and their relationship to you;
• a short summary of the claim to the work;
• copies of any documents or other evidence that may be relevant to the claim or enquiry; and
• a statement confirming that you are aware that QAGOMA may inform the lender of the request and supply them with information on the claim.

How will QAGOMA consider the claim or enquiry?

To allow us to investigate and respond appropriately, we may take up to 28 days to reply. In considering whether the enquiry or claim is justified in relation to a work proposed for international loan QAGOMA will consider:

• the documentation and evidence you provide;
• if you are known to QAGOMA, and whether the claim has been made in another jurisdiction; and
• in the case of Australian cultural material, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material, close examination of the work’s provenance and history, including how the work left the custody of the individual or communities and the circumstance in which it was exported from Australia.

Please note that the information above relates to enquiries and claims relating to the ownership or provenance of a work borrowed from overseas for temporary public exhibition. For all other comments and enquiries about works of art use the general QAGOMA contact.

What response should I expect to receive from QAGOMA?

If QAGOMA is satisfied that the work’s provenance has been established we will provide you, where appropriate, with:

• information on the provenance and due diligence research that was conducted in accordance with QAGOMA’s policies and procedures; and
• any other information available on our website or elsewhere.

QAGOMA will also allow the lender an opportunity to respond to the claim or enquiry made and will provide you with an outline of the lender’s response.

What happens if QAGOMA determines that a claim is justified?

If QAGOMA determines that a legitimate claim is made prior to importation to Australia, we will assess whether or not it is appropriate to continue with the loan in accordance with the terms of the Loans Policy and Provenance and Due Diligence Policy.

Please note that after the work has been imported into Australia, protection under the Act cannot be revoked regardless of the integrity of the claim made.

QAGOMA observes the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970, to which Australia is a signatory. The Gallery follows stringent procedures to establish detailed provenance documentation and proof of ownership and origin, adhering to Australian and international museum best practice, including the Australian Government's Best Practice Guide to Collecting Cultural Material, Museums Australia's Code of Ethics for Art, History & Science Museums and the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums. The Gallery consults lost and stolen art registers and local organisations where appropriate.

The Gallery has embarked on a project to research the provenance and compile further documentation of works within the Asian Art Collection. QAGOMA acknowledges recent allegations of fraudulent dealings in international antiquities and the introduction of new guidelines by the Federal Government with respect to the handling and collection of this material. While this is a small Collection area for the Gallery, a small group of objects have been identified as requiring further research. These include works with incomplete chain of titles, or those requiring further evidence of provenance details.

It is important to note:

• No claims have been made against the works of art listed here.
• Gaps in provenance do not indicate that a work of art was looted or stolen. In some cases, this is a reflection of the age of the works in question and their history of collection over long periods of time
• The Gallery has never purchased works from Subhash Kapoor.

Asian art objects with incomplete provenance

• Asian Art Objects With Incomplete Provenance

The Gallery welcomes any information that may cast light on gaps on the provenance of these works. The supplied chain of ownership for these objects is currently being reviewed and further research is underway. Details may be refined and updated as research progresses.

The subject of Nazi art loot rose to prominence following allegations that some objects confiscated or looted from individuals during the Nazi/World War Two era, and still unaccounted for, could be found in the collections of galleries and museums around the world.

In December 2000, in response to initiatives taken by European and American museums, the Gallery established the Provenance Research Project – Nazi / World War Two Era. The purpose of this project was to formally examine its catalogue and pursue further research in an effort to confirm the Gallery's good title to particular objects in its Collection.

Research began by looking at the scope of some 219 works in the Gallery's Collection of European origin which were produced before 1946 and acquired from 1933 onwards. More than half of these were objects by British artists, however, and were discarded from the group leaving only those which may have been in continental Europe during the relevant period. Other objects were also discarded from the group as they indicated satisfactory provenance details from 1933 to 1945. Prints and decorative art objects such as ceramics, metalwork and furniture were omitted due to the problems associated with attempting to distinguish between non-unique objects. Research then focused on remaining works, especially those that had gaps in their records, or vague or inaccurate information about their ownership during the Nazi/World War Two era.

Two listings subsequently appear on this website: 'Restituted objects' and 'Objects with incomplete provenance data'. The first includes objects which were taken from their rightful owners during the period of Nazi rule, but were restituted prior to acquisition by the Gallery. The second identifies objects which have gaps in provenance during the period 1933–45.

Restituted objects

The volume of art objects restituted to their owners or heirs after having been confiscated, sold under duress, or stolen during the course of the Nazi era makes it entirely plausible that these objects could have been acquired later by museums.

Research undertaken to date has revealed that the Gallery's Collection contains a painting which had been confiscated by Nazi officials and eventually restituted to the rightful heir of the individual from whom it had been taken. The details of this object and its history appear on this list, as will any further objects identified in this category.

The provenance data cited includes information about the known movements of those objects from the time they were taken from their owners, until they were returned.

The Master of Frankfurt

On the back of the painting Virgin and Child with Saint James the Pilgrim, Saint Catherine and the Donor with Saint Peter c.1496 by the Master of Frankfurt is a small circular label that catalogues the work as number 509 in the collection of Oscar Bondy, Vienna. Accompanying Bondy's label is the inscription 'OB 1304', the format often used by Germany's Nazi party to document confiscated art works. Bondy was a Jewish connoisseur and collector who acquired the painting in 1928; his collection was confiscated by the Nazi party in 1939.

In tracing the original inventory with the Kommision für Provenienzforschung of the Austrian Government, it was confirmed that 'OB 1304' was the Nazi identification number for the painting by the Master of Frankfurt. Next to the entry for the Master's painting in the Nazi inventory is the stamp: 'Kunstmuseum Linz', referring to its proposed inclusion in the Führermuseum, an art museum planned by Adolf Hitler for the Austrian city of Linz.

Nazi / World War Two objects with incomplete provenance

• Items With Incomplete Provenance

The objects in this list are included because there are gaps in their ownership histories between 1933 and 1945. The research team believes that its enquiries have exhausted the references available and these objects are listed in the hope that others may be able to contribute the missing details.

The presence of an object in this list does not imply that it has been associated with the illicit activities of the Nazis or the haphazard looting which occurred at various times during World War Two. Objects can be included because they show a connection to a collection which was confiscated, or to an individual reported to have been involved in the trafficking of objects on behalf of, or to, the Nazis. The majority of objects appear in this list because the research team has been unable to secure fully documented information and cannot confirm ownership for all, or part, of the period 1933–1945.