This ‘in conversation’ event is held as part of the event series for the Library’s exhibition Looted: Two Families, Nazi Theft and the Search for Restitution.
We will hear from researcher Mary-Ann Middelkoop and provenance researcher Alexandra Watson-Jones. They will be reflecting on the state of research on Nazi looted art from an academic perspective and the role of provenance research on such items in the collections of museums such as the V&A.
About the speakers
Dr Mary-Ann Middelkoop is a Research Associate and Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of History of Art at the University of Cambridge. She holds a PhD in Modern European History from Cambridge and previously worked at the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, London. Mary-Ann is co-editor of Thinking Provenance, Thinking Restitution forthcoming with De Gruyter.
Dr Alex Watson-Jones is Provenance Research Curator at the V&A, where she is responsible for leading on and coordinating research into the ownership histories of objects in the museum’s collection, including Nazi-era provenance. She completed her PhD in 2024, a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership with National Museums Scotland and the University of St Andrews. Her doctoral research explored the collecting of Ethiopian material culture by British individuals and institutions, building on her curatorial work with the Ethiopian collections at the V&A where she previously worked from 2015-19. She has also recently worked as Project Curator on the British Museum’s Recovery Programme.
