Solving art history mysteries with open data -- GCN

"With programs like the Carnegie Museum of Art’s (CMOA) Art Tracks at some of the world’s most famous museums, more people have access to information about a piece’s sometimes-sordid history -- including clues that might uncover evidence of Nazi confiscation.  Provenance generally was consider to be the information tucked in the back of a catalog that was relevant only to a tiny pool of scholars and experts, said Tracey Berg-Fulton, collections database associate at CMOA. 'Because we’re now being more explicit about the mechanisms behind how art transfers from person to person and travels from place to place, we’re discovering fascinating connections between people, history and objects.' And could a more-defined history affect art ownership? Possibly, said Berg-Fulton. 'The tools we’ve designed have a timeline that really illustrates periods of ambiguity and uncertainty, and so that can help point out a period of possible Nazi confiscation' ..."