2025 Christie’s Grant for Nazi-era Provenance Research
Christie’s is delighted to announce the third year of the Christie’s Grant for Nazi-era Provenance Research, supporting the next generation of provenance researchers in this field. The grant will be offered to four recipients (£5,000 each), to fund forward-thinking academic, post-graduate research into subjects related to Nazi-era provenance research and restitution.
In 2023 Christie’s launched its Grant for Nazi-era Provenance Research as part of its year-long programme, “Reflecting on Restitution”, organised by the auction house to mark the 25th anniversary of the Washington Principles—the 11 foundational principles which have provided a framework for handling research into and claims resulting from the widespread confiscation, forced sales and looting of artworks during the Nazi era.
The application process is open to students in art history or with an interdisciplinary interest in Nazi-era related provenance research. The deadline for submissions is 30 June 2025.
Image: Waldlandschaft, Otto Mueller (1874-1930), Sold pursuant to a settlement agreement between the Collection of Lois B. Torf and the heirs of Alfred and Tekla Hess
To deepen, develop and challenge our knowledge of the actions, policies and consequences of art looting between 1933 and 1945, is central to the grant’s mission. In previous years we have been truly privileged to meet and engage with new thinkers and researchers in this field, the interchange underlining how much more there is still to uncover. Intellectual curiosity, academic dedication and ethical imperative have been a calling card for Christie’s grant recipients for the last two years and we are looking forward to this year’s applications.”—Sarah Done, Director, Restitution
A porcelain plate with red and green grapes, a pewter plate with a knife, nuts, a pear and a glass of wine on a table top from Isaac Soreau (Hanau 1604-1645 Frankfurt am Main). Restituted to Jacob Polak, March 1949.
Grant selection panel 2025
Christie’s is working with leading experts in the field to serve on the selection panel to identify this year’s Grant recipients. We are delighted to be working with:
Anne Webber, Commission for Looted Art in Europe
Anne Webber CBE is Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE). Established in 1999, CLAE is a non-profit, expert, representative body which negotiates restitution laws and policies with governments and cultural institutions, conducts research and trains provenance researchers, and acts for families worldwide to identify, locate and recover their Nazi-looted cultural property. She is also founder and Director of the Central Registry of Information on Looted Cultural Property 1933-1945 at lootedart.com, set up in 2001 to fulfil Washington Principle VI and which is an international centre of expertise and provides an online repository of the latest research, news and information from 49 countries and a database of 25,000 objects.
Marc Masurovsky, Holocaust Art Restitution Project
Marc Masurovsky co-founded the Holocaust Art Restitution Project (HARP) in September 1997 and served as its Director of Research. Active from 1980 in examining assets looted during the Nazi era, he has been an expert historian in Swiss banks class action lawsuits, a consultant for the US Department of Justice's Office of Special Investigations and former director of the Provenance Research Training Program at the Prague-based European Shoah Legacy Institute (ESLI). From 2005-19, Marc was project director of the Database of Art Objects at the Jeu de Paume. He has been teaching provenance research workshops for the Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) (Amelia, Italy) since 2017.
Prof. Dr. Christian Fuhrmeister, Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Art historian Christian Fuhrmeister received his doctorate in Hamburg in 1998 and became staff member of the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich in 2003. He was habilitated at LMU Munich in 2013 (2020 Adjunct Professor). Within his focus on the 19th-21st centuries, Christian specializes on the production, distribution and reception of art, including translocation and change of ownership during National Socialism and the postwar period, often by initiating and supervising third-party funded projects.
MacKenzie Mallon, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
MacKenzie Mallon is the Provenance Specialist at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, where she coordinates the museum’s provenance research program. She curated the exhibitions Discriminating Thieves: Nazi-Looted Art and Restitution (2019) and Origins: Collecting to Create the Nelson-Atkins (2021) and is a co-founder of the Provenance Connect professional network. Her most recent publication, “A Seed of Desire: Effie Seachrest and Women Collectors in Kansas City and Beyond,” is in Frances Fowle and MaryKate Cleary, eds., The Art Market and the Museum: Institutional Collecting, Display and Patronage since the Mid-Nineteenth Century (Bloomsbury Publishing, April 2025).
Sarah Done, Christie’s
Sarah joined Christie’s in 2003, with the sole focus on Nazi-era restitution from 2004. First researching artworks for sale and now as Director of Restitution, she works principally on the research and resolution dialogue for restitution claims. Sarah contributes to shaping Christie’s approach to restitution and establishing its reputation for best practice in this field, working widely with colleagues both in-house and within the restitution community.
Christie’s commitment to expanding scholarship underpins our commitment to the next generation of provenance research and restitution. It is deeply gratifying to announce Christie’s Grant for Nazi-era Provenance Research for the third time."—Marc Porter, Christie’s Chairman
Application process
Bildnis (Junger Mann, Kopf), EGON SCHIELE (1890-1918). Restituted via mutual agreement to the heirs of Karl Mayländer, 2023.
Post-graduate submission guidelines
Application period: 25 APR – 30 JUN, worldwide
All applications for post-graduate grants should include the below, preferably in a single document:
- An outline of the applicant’s current or proposed research topic (1,000 – 2,000 words), including date of thesis submission
- Confirmation of applicant’s enrolment at an academic institution in a post-graduate course (Master’s or Ph. D studies) for the year 2025/2026
- Two academic references
- A statement of how financial support - up to £5,000 - would assist in the completion of the applicant’s studies. (Noting that grants should be utilised within 18 months of receipt. Grants may cover institutional/tuition fees, research-related costs or to assist open access publication)
- Curriculum vitae
- Any additional information supporting Christie’s aim of increasing and supporting voices under-represented in provenance research, and to support early career development, particularly encouraging those for whom financial support will be significant in ensuring the opportunity to pursue specialized research
Please email your application to RestitutionGrant@christies.com
A wooded river landscape with a waterfall, a church and farm beyond, JACOB VAN RUISDAEL (HAARLEM 1628⁄29-1682 AMSTERDAM). Sold pursuant to a settlement agreement between the current owner and heir of Jakob Goldschmidt and the heir of Walter Rappolt.
Undergraduate submission guidelines
Application period: 25 APR – 30 JUN, worlwide
All applications for undergraduate grants should include the below, preferably in a single document:
- An outline of the applicant’s current research and practical next steps on how an interest in Nazi-era restitution related research would be developed (1,000 – 2,000 words)
- Confirmation of applicant’s enrolment at an academic institution on an undergraduate course for the year 2025/2026, and anticipated date of graduation
- Two academic references
- A statement of how financial support - up to £2,000 - would assist in the completion of the applicant’s studies, demonstrating that this is with a view to continuing engagement in this or a related field. (Noting that grants should be utilised within 18 months of receipt. Grants may cover institutional/tuition fees, research-related costs or to assist open access publication)
- Curriculum vitae
- Any additional information supporting Christie’s aim of increasing and supporting voices under-represented in provenance research, and to support early career development, particularly encouraging those for whom financial support will be significant in ensuring the opportunity to pursue specialized research
Please email your application to RestitutionGrant@christies.com
Past grant recipients
2024 grant winners
Discover the recipients of the 2024 Christie’s Grant for Nazi-era Provenance Research.
2023 grant winners
Announcing the recipients of the inaugural Christie’s Grant for Nazi-era Provenance Research.