Provenance Research and Restitution of Nazi Looted Art 

Co-organised by Mondex Corporation and CITCEM

Realiza-se no dia 10 de outubro, a partir das 10 horas, no Humanities Lab

PROGRAM

10h30 Kamila Gourdie (President & CEO of Mondex)
Mondex Corporation, a Canadian company specialized in restitution of looted art

10h40 Waldemar H. de Boer (Director of Provenance Research)
Art looting during the Nazi era

10h50 James Palmer (Founder, Mondex)
The case of the looted painting Seated Man with Cane by Amedeo Modigliani

11h30 Questions and answers

KAMILA GOURDIE

Kamila Gourdie is a multilingual corporate strategist and business development specialist who has lived and worked throughout Europe, Russia, North America and Asia. After completing her International Master of Business Administration (IMBA) degree, she worked as a consultant to mid-sized businesses, advising on matters of international expansion and corporate strategy.
In 2004, Kamila became President of Mondex Corporation, responsible for the management of the company and its global operations — a role she considers an honour due in no small part to the passion and commitment of her dedicated colleagues.
Kamila began her career in art restitution in 1996 as a forensic genealogist, conducting research in archives and museums, in cooperation with numerous governmental organizations around the world.
Kamila is an active Toronto business community member, serving on Boards of Directors as well as in advisory roles to non-profit organizations.

WALDEMAR H. DE BOER

Waldemar H. de Boer is an art historian who specializes in provenance research. He works closely with Mondex’s team of provenance researchers who have resolved several complex and challenging looted art cases where we have recovered proof of ownership of artworks, which were despoiled during the Second World War and during other periods of persecution. Waldemar is knowledgeable of international restitution policies and procedures and counsels his colleagues in this challenging area. In addition to his native language Dutch, he also speaks Italian, English and reads German .
In the past, Waldemar worked in Florence, Italy, as a researcher at the Dutch University Institute for Art History, and as a Renaissance art teacher at the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai. He has also conducted provenance research at several essential archives and libraries about European, looted art in New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Rome and in several other cities.
Waldemar attended the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands, where he obtained both a master’s degree and a PhD in art history. The subject of his dissertation was the publication I gioieli pittoreschi by Marco Boschini from 1676, a guidebook about paintings in the city of Vicenza, Italy. Waldemar also published an annotated edition of the Memorial of Many Paintings and Statues in the Illustrious City of Florence by Francesco Albertini from 1510, which can be considered a prototype for city guidebooks. In both this book and his dissertation, Waldemar reconstructed the provenance of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque artworks, from the moment of their conception until the 21st century.

JAMES PALMER

James Palmer was born in Toronto, Canada and established Mondex Corporation in 1993. Driven to do work of meaning, he ensured that Mondex was in a position to help families who had lost their property. Then, in 1998, encouraged by the international endorsement of the Washington Principles, James worked to develop Mondex’s expertise to include the restitution of looted art and other cultural property.
Since then, James has spoken about the restitution of looted art at numerous seminars in Canada, the United States and England. He has also continued to add to the field by contributing his perspective to newspapers and magazines and appearing on television.
James completed his studies at the Canadian universities of York, Laurentian and Western, as well as the University of Nice in France and Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. He holds an Honours BA and an MBA, and currently acts as a consultant for Mondex.

ORGANIZATION

CITCEM — Centro Transdisciplinar Cultura, Espaço e Memória
Mondex Corporation

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Maria Leonor Botelho (CITCEM-FLUP)
Gabriela Benner (Mondex Corporation)