FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 2024
CHICAGO—The Art Institute of Chicago is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Executive Director of Provenance Research, Dr. Jacques Schuhmacher. In his role, Schuhmacher will supervise the provenance team that was formally established in 2020. He will lead the museum’s provenance initiatives across the entire collection, including building on the museum’s existing provenance research practice and coordinating this important work among specialists across the museum.
Schuhmacher joins the museum from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, where he served as the Senior Provenance Research Curator. During his tenure at the V&A, he was responsible for leading research efforts into the provenance of the entire collection. His expansive work across departments and regions included work on a wide range of restitution and repatriation cases. His research led to the return of several objects to their countries of origin, including a golden ewer from 2,000 BCE to Turkey.
Schuhmacher is a leader in the field. He has published widely on provenance matters and co-founded a working group to share information between museums in the United States and Europe, which has rapidly grown from 25 to 130 provenance experts engaged in this important work.
“Jacques’s hire reflects the museum’s decades-long commitment to engage in deep, rigorous research of the works in our collection,” said Sarah Guernsey, Deputy Director and Senior Vice President for Curatorial Affairs, the Art Institute of Chicago. “We are thrilled that Jacques will bring his expertise to the Art Institute to build on our leadership in provenance research, help us continue living up to our commitment as an institution, and share this work across the entire field.”
He has served on a wide range of UK sector working groups, including: the National Museum Directors’ Council (NMDC) Spoliation Working Group, which coordinates provenance research at the national level in the UK; the Arts Council England (ACE) Steering Committee that oversaw the development of new restitution and repatriation guidance for the sector; and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Illicit Trafficking Working Group. He also previously served as a researcher at the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, a not-for-profit organization focused on recovering World War II–era property.
“I look forward to bringing my experience to the world-renowned Art Institute of Chicago,” said Jacques Schuhmacher about his new appointment. “The Art Institute has demonstrated a commitment to this type of work for years, and I am thrilled to collaborate with museum leadership as well as the curatorial and conservation teams to continue this exceptional commitment to provenance across the entire institution.”
Schuhmacher studied Modern History at Humboldt University of Berlin and Somerville College, Oxford. He holds a doctorate in History from the University of Oxford, where he was Co-Director of the War Crimes Research Network. His first day is August 12, 2024.
