For those not already familiar with The Art Loss Register ("ALR"), I thought this would be a helpful albeit brief introduction to the ALR and the key services the London-based company, International Art and Antique Loss Register Limited, offers to art dealers, art fairs, auction houses, insurers, law enforcement agencies, museums, and private individuals.
The ALR is recognized as the "world's largest private database of lost and stolen art, antiques and collectables." The ALR offers various specialized services from item registration to search and recovery services to the art trade, collectors, insurers, and worldwide law enforcement agencies. According to the ALR website, the company efficiently delivers its services by utilizing state of the art information technology and a worldwide team of specially trained professional art historians having a diverse range of language capabilities as well as specialties in antiquities, modern art, and old masters.
There are two primary aspects to the company's business—(1) the ALR serves as a significant deterrent to art theft by encouraging the registration of items of valuable possession directly on the database and the expansion of checking searches; and (2) the ALR operates a recovery service for the return of art work to the rightful owner by providing a due diligence service to sellers of art and being the worldwide focus in the case of any suspicion of illegitimate ownership. More recently, the company has expanded its recovery service to include negotiating compensation to victims of art theft and the legitimizing of current ownership.
With the existence of the ALR, criminals are very well aware of the risks when they try to sell stolen art work. Impressively, the ALR's renown in the stolen art field has enabled the business to play a crucial role in the recovery of in excess of $320M worth of stolen works.
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