Editing Christie's (section)

=== Insufficient or invalid provenance for looted works ===
Christie's has been criticised for "an embarrassing history of a lack of transparency around [[provenance]]".<ref name=":0" /> In 2003, Christie's was criticised for its handling of two [[Nazi plunder|Nazi-looted]] artworks claimed by heirs of the original Jewish owners. In one case, it refused to divulge to the heirs the location of an Italian painting formerly owned by Jewish Viennese banker Heinrich Graf, looted by the [[Gestapo]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reich |first=Howard |date=30 December 2002 |title=Sisters track art stolen by Nazis |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-dec-30-et-reich30-story.html |access-date=3 February 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Pratley |first=Nils |date=25 October 2003 |title=Christie's hides behind confidentiality over painting stolen by Gestapo |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/oct/25/arts.artsnews |access-date=3 February 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Christie's eventually revealed the holder's name after the Jewish Community of Vienna filed a successful suit in the UK on behalf of Graf's American daughters in late 2004.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Reich |first1=Howard |title=Bittersweet ending: A Nazi-looted painting resurfaces but is not returned |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/howard-reich/ct-looted-marieschi-ae-0528-20170527-column.html |access-date=26 February 2023 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=27 May 2017}}</ref> In the other 2003 case Christie's declined to inform the family that it had discovered that a painting consigned to it had been looted from Ulla and Moriz Rosenthal, a Jewish couple murdered in Auschwitz.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pratley |first=Nils |date=24 October 2003 |title=Christie's hid Nazi past of painting |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/oct/24/germany.arttheft |access-date=3 February 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=24 October 2003 |title=Christie's denies Nazi cover-up |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3211127.stm |access-date=3 February 2023}}</ref>

On 19 May 2020, the craft supply company [[Hobby Lobby]], who purchased material for loan or donation to [[Museum of the Bible|The Museum of the Bible]], filed a diversity action on the auction house regarding the sale and purchase  of the [[Gilgamesh]] tablet by private sale agreement on 14 July 2014, allegedly while knowing the Iraqi-origin cuneiform object had a fake provenance.<ref>{{cite web |title=HOBBY LOBBY STORES, INC., Plaintiff, v. CHRISTIE'S INC. and John Doe #1, Defendants. 20-CV-2239 |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-dis-crt-ed-new-yor/2146234.html#:~:text=The%20plaintiff%20filed%20this%20diversity,a%20portion%20of%20the%20Epic |website=FindLaw |access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Hobby Lobby sues Christie's for selling it an antiquity authorities say was looted|url=http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/hobby-lobby-sues-christie-s-for-selling-it-a-looted-antiquity|access-date=24 July 2020|website=Theartnewspaper.com|date=19 May 2020 }}</ref> In June 2020, they were forced to withdraw four Greek and Roman antiquities from sale after it was discovered that they came from "sites linked to convicted antiquities traffickers".<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=14 June 2020|title=Christie's withdraws 'looted' Greek and Roman treasures|url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/jun/14/christies-withdraws-allegedly-looted-greek-and-roman-treasures|access-date=24 July 2020|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The same month, they were criticised for putting up a [[Benin Bronzes|Benin]] plaque and two [[Igbo people|Igbo]] [[alusi]] figures for auction.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Obi-Young |first1=Otosirieze |title=Art Historian Chika Okeke-Agulu Calls for Cancellation of Paris Auction of Igbo Sculptures |url=https://folio.ng/art-historian-chika-okeke-agulu-calls-for-cancellation-of-paris-auction-of-igbo-sculptures/ |website=Folio Nigeria |access-date=17 August 2020}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Waning market for African artefacts? Controversial Benin bronze fails to sell at Christie's|url=http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/christies-african-objects-sale|access-date=24 July 2020|website=Theartnewspaper.com|date=30 June 2020 }}</ref> The plaque was tied to similar plaques taken from Nigeria during the [[Benin Expedition of 1897]] and remained unsold after an auction was held.<ref name=":2" /> The alusi figures are alleged to have been taken from Nigeria during the [[Nigerian Civil War]] and were sold for €212,500 (after fees), below their low estimate of €250,000.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=29 June 2020|title=Christie's Paris Sells Two 'Sacred Sculptures' From Nigeria, Despite Protests From Scholars and Nigerian Heritage Authorities|url=https://news.artnet.com/market/two-sacred-sculptures-nigeria-sold-christies-christies-paris-despite-claims-objects-looted-war-1890772|access-date=24 July 2020|website=artnet News|language=en-US}}</ref> Christie's claims to require "verifiable documented provenance that the object was taken out of its source nation prior to the earlier date of 2000, or the date which is legally applicable between the country in which the sale takes place and the source nation".<ref name=":2" />

In November 2014, Christie's had to withdraw a prehistoric sculpture from [[Sardinia]], valued at $800,000–$1.2m, put on auction by [[Michael Steinhardt]], a US-billionaire, who was given a lifetime ban on acquiring further antiquities by the Manhattan district attorney's office in 2021.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McKinley|first=James C. Jr.|date=6 January 2018|title=Looted Antiques Seized From Billionaire's Home, Prosecutors Say|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/nyregion/antiques-seized-from-billionaire-michael-steinhardt-cyrus-vance.html|access-date=9 December 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> After having acquired artworks with unverified [[provenance]] for years, for example by convicted art dealer [[Giacomo Medici (art dealer)|Giacomo Medici]], Steinhard's collection had been subjected to search warrants and investigations since 2017. He finally surrendered 180 looted and illegally smuggled antiquities valued at $70m. According to [[The Guardian]], the district attorney said: "For decades, Michael Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artefacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Alberge|first=Dalya|date=7 December 2021|title=US billionaire surrenders $70m of stolen art|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/07/us-billionaire-michael-steinhardt-surrenders-70m-dollars-stolen-art|url-status=live|access-date=7 December 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207103919/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/07/us-billionaire-michael-steinhardt-surrenders-70m-dollars-stolen-art |archive-date=7 December 2021 }}</ref>

In February 2023 a French court ordered Christie's to unconditionally restitute Dutch painting ''The Penitent Magdalene'', signed [[Adriaen van der Werff]] (1707), looted in 1942 from Lionel Hauser in Paris and last sold by the auction house without any provenance in London in April 2005.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 February 2023 |title=French court orders Christie's to restitute a Nazi-looted painting sold in London |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/02/01/french-court-orders-christies-to-restitute-a-nazi-looted-painting-sold-in-london |access-date=2 February 2023 |website=The Art Newspaper – International art news and events}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Villa |first=Angelica |date=31 January 2023 |title=Christie's Ordered to Return Painting That Was Confiscated During World War II to Proust Heirs |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/crhisties-returns-dutch-painting-proust-heirs-restitution-1234655870/ |access-date=2 February 2023 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Christie's had offered the Hauser heirs 50 per cent of the sale price; the heirs refused the offer and took the case to court.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 July 2022 |title=Legal battle over 'Mary Magdalene' painting looted by Nazis in Paris |language=en |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/police-and-justice/article/2022/07/07/legal-battle-over-mary-magdalene-painting-looted-by-nazis-in-paris_5989370_105.html |access-date=2 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=28 January 2023 |title=Justice orders the return of a painting looted by the Nazis from a cousin of Marcel Proust |url=https://time.news/justice-orders-the-return-of-a-painting-looted-by-the-nazis-from-a-cousin-of-marcel-proust/ |access-date=2 February 2023 |website=Time News |language=en-US}}</ref>