British Art Treasures and Colonialism Term Paper

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British, American, and Other European Practices Regarding Artistic TreasuresAs noted by Jenette Greenfield in her chapter “British and Other European Practice,” Britons have often been noted for their mania for collecting, a mania paralleled in the actual physical relics encompassed in the British Museum. The diversity of the British Museum’s collection is, of course, impressive, but it is the result of colonialism and the unprecedented access Britons had to treasures all over the globe. The UK continues to be in dispute over many relics even with its European colleagues, as is the case with the Elgin Marbles. Many British archeologists seemed to regard plundering tombs in ancient Egypt and elsewhere in Mesopotamia as more of a sport than an actual act of respect to idea of learning about the past. This lack of respect had not entirely been extinguished.What I found so surprising and interesting in light of recent questioning over the rights of colonial nations to own the artifacts of colonized societies is that British law still makes it very difficult even for willing British museums to divest themselves of antiquities.

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The main method of disposal or release is offered if the museums deem the relics unsuitable for their collections, which is a very broad phrase (Greenfield 104). A more feasible vehicle of return is a British museum extending artifacts on permanent loan to another abroad, for the purposes of scholarly study (Greenfield 105). Greenfield argues that the British Museum’s behavior in regards to the Elgin Marbles and other structures, however, has set an example even for nations not technically harboring such legal restrictions.In Britain, art functions as a public treasure, albeit in a very parochial fashion, given that British treasures and artifacts are primarily accessible to residents and tourists, versus persons in the country of origin that produced the art. As noted by John Henry Merryman, in “Art Systems and Cultural Policy,” American museums are unique because of the influence of private collectors and wealthy philanthropists. In America, the artist is viewed a private person, supported by private patronage, and this construct likewise extends to collecting. “Private….....

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