This book is a collection of essays and speeches devoted to the philosophy of the museum as an institution in society; the interaction of museums and the law; and art, the law, and the marketplace.

Between the countless works of art in the world and numerous laws on their care, the task of deciphering correct procedure can seem daunting. In Art Law: A Concise Guide for Artists, Curators, and Art Educators, Michael E. Jones breaks down the legal language into a concise tool for all those involved in the art world. While most art law books are written for law students or museum directors, trustees, and curators, Jones' book appeals to a far larger audience, particularly undergraduate and graduate students studying art, graphic design, photography, museum studies, art education and art business. It is also a useful research guide for museum professionals, gallery directors, foundation heads, working professional visual fine artists and board/trustee members. Art Law distinguishes itself by providing a broad scope of art law in relation to the world of artists and those organizations that support, preserve, govern, display, and even sell art. Covering topics such as acquisition, grants, and buying and selling, this book takes a look at the ethical and legal issues and rights that confront the art community and museums. Through case studies complete with images, readers can see these topics in action. Art Law is a must-have guide for art educators, museum studies students, art law and business programs, and artists looking for clear and readable descriptions and answers to the relevant legal issues facing the art world community.

If you're a lawyer or art professional, it's your one-stop answer to any legal or tax question. The definitive guide to the law on visual art, Art Law provides practical legal guidance and critical tax advice to every individual who creates, buys, sells, appraises, authenticates, exhibits, or restores artwork as well as to investors and their advisors.

Table of Contents: Art in civil and criminal law -- Fact before law -- Defining agreements in the art and antiquities world -- Retrieving stolen art across state boundaries : civil recovery at common law -- Retrieving stolen art across state boundaries : the UNESCO and UNIDROIT Conventions -- Retrieving stolen art across state boundaries : Europe -- State action to seize and return unlawfully exported antiquities -- White knight benevolence -- Lending, bailing, sharing and returning -- Art loans and immunity from legal process -- Unrolling history -- Limitation : the direst form of lottery -- Gift or loan? -- Le noeud de vipères -- Statutes authorising the relinquishment of objects from museum collections -- Disposals from local authority museums -- Indigenous human remains -- Monarchs and heads of state : a modern traffic? -- The Gurlitt conundrum -- Treasure and excavated antiquities -- Helmets, treasure and rewards -- Intellectual and physical (incorporeal and corporeal) property -- Summing up