Asian Art Provenance Project
The National Gallery’s Asian Art Provenance Project, which was launched in 2014, has resulted in deaccession and repatriation of a number of works to their countries of origin.
Since the arrest of art dealer Subhash Kapoor in 2011, all artworks acquired by the National Gallery from his New York dealership Art of the Past have now been deaccessioned. This includes the return to India of Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja).
Download PDF Acquisitions from Art of the Past, New York.
The Asian Art Provenance Project was reviewed by the Honourable Susan Crennan AC, former Justice of the High Court of Australia, in 2015.
You can read the 2015 Crennan review here.
Do you have information about any of the works of art in our collection?
We would love to hear from you. To share your knowledge, please email us at provenance@nga.gov.au.
Media Releases
Media releases related to the project can be accessed at the following links:
- National Gallery of Australian returns 14 works of art to India 2021.07.11
- National Gallery of Australia to return three Indian sculptures 2019.11.27
- Statement from the National Gallery of Australia regarding Subhash Kapoor 2019.07.11
- National Gallery of Australia confirms four sculptures under investigation by Tamil Nadu Police 2017.04.21
- NGA returns two sculptures to India 2016.09.19
- Buddha announcement 2015.03.06
- Independent reviewer 2015.03.06
- Independent review 2014.12.19
- Q&A update Shiva 2014.09.05
- Statement 2014.09.05
- Statement 2014.03.27
- Q&A Shiva 2014.03.24
- Statement 2014.02.06
- Statement 2013.12.05
- Statement 2013.06.13
- Statement 2012.08.03