Why are Hong Kong bots visiting Open Art Data?

Dear Readers,
Many of you are tech savvy, so I'm hoping that maybe one of you can help.
Open Art Data is getting thousands of visits from Hong Kong for reasons that are unknown.

They do not appear to be interested in reading or commenting on the posts.  (Why would anyone in Hong Kong be interested in provenance research into Nazi looted art?)
Have any of you had a similar experience?
Is there some way I can block these suspicious visitors?
All tips and suggestions much appreciated!
   Thanks!

   Open Art Data

DATASET: National Gallery of Art Nazi Era Provenance PUBLIC

Dataset name: National Gallery of Art Enhanced Provenance Research Dataset NEPIP PUBLIC

Description: This enhanced Provenance dataset has been constructed from  information available on the public internet site of the National Gallery of Art (NGA)  The dataset merges the list of artworks on the Nazi Era Provenance Internet Portal with provenance texts published on the NGA detailed item pages. 

This dataset is intended to facilitate research into Holocaust-era provenance for scholars, art historians and families. 

The original and best source of information concerning provenance remains the National Gallery of Art  public website.

Format: Google Sheet

URL: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTnJR2T4TtT-iFaioInvWpn8xhnhxjrWebFyWCvM3lodUssE0b_j64-vOC-PT17aVrxd-lcGp_SDntU/pubhtml?gid=1646299987&single=true


Download: CSV


Contents:

1. NEPIP National Gallery of Art 

2. About this file

3. NEPIP by Artists

4. NEPIP by Credit Line

5. NEPIP Provenance includes "private", "anonymous", "art market"

6. All of above

Publisher: OAD

Date of Publication: April 6, 2020

Example of content: Provenance text contains word "private", "anonymous", or "art market" 

---

Original data sources that were merged to create the new DATASET: National Gallery of Art Nazi Era Provenance PUBLIC:

•  NEPIP National Gallery of Art 
  
  
•  National Gallery of Art  website Provenance texts of artworks 

Dataset : Museum of Fine Arts Boston Enhanced Provenance Research Dataset NEPIP PUBLIC

Dataset name: Museum of Fine Arts Boston Enhanced Provenance Research Dataset NEPIP PUBLIC

Description: This enhanced Provenance dataset has been constructed from  information available on the public internet site of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The dataset merges the list of artworks on the Nazi Era Provenance Internet Portal with provenance texts published on the Boston MFA detailed item pages. 

This dataset is intended to facilitate research into Holocaust-era provenance for scholars, art historians and families. 

The original and best source of information concerning provenance remains the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston public website.


Original data sources that were merged to create new dataset:

•  NEPIP Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA)

•  Boston Museum of Fine Arts website Provenance texts of artworks 

Format: Google Sheet



URL: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSFfpdQ1Y6sWQuTAdHejqghDwPvlu4W2cevOxjkLUQYdTOZXdxRM4OH5U_rkAvLUEh38VbFdntHeHoR/pubhtml



Download: CSV


Contents:



1. NEPIP MFA



2. About this file



3. NEPIP Artists


4. NEPIP Credit Line


5. NEPIP Provenance includes "private", "anonymous", "art market"


Publisher: OAD



Date of Publication: April 6, 2020



License: CC0

Example of content: Provenance text contains word "private", "anonymous", or "art market" 

Curt Valentin in provenances at the Harvard Art Museums

- The Persistent Crime of Nazi-Looted Art, by Sophie Gilbert, in The AtlanticLooted Art

The director of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Alfred H. Barr Jr. used art dealer Curt Valentin as an intermediary to secretly purchase artworks confiscated by Nazis from German museums. What else did Barr and other American museums directors purchase through Valentin?

In this next series of posts, we will look at the provenances of artworks that mention Curt Valentin. 

An interesting exercise for young art historians and provenances researchers is to examine each provenance with the questions: 

1) Who owned this artwork before Curt Valentin? 

2) Are there provenance gaps for the years 1933-1945?

3) What share of artworks that mention Curt Valentin in the provenance lack information about sellers, dates and places for the Nazi years? (0-25%; 26-50%; 51%-75%; 76%-100%).

4) What possible explanations might there be for the observations in 3)?

5) What actions does this suggest?

1. Mentions of Curt Valentin in the provenances of artworks at the Harvard Art Museums

See  Valentin Harvard Art Museums Provenance



---
for more information on Curt Valentin's role in bringing European art into American museums, see:

MoMA’s Problematic Provenances by William D. Cohan published November 17, 2011 by Artnews

DATASET Provenance Research of Artworks: Harvard Art Museums

Dataset name: Enhanced Harvard Art Museums Provenance Research Dataset 

Description: This enhanced Provenance dataset has been constructed from  information available on the public internet site of the Harvard Art Museums. The dataset merges the list of artworks on the Nazi Era Provenance Internet Portal with provenance texts published on the Harvard Art Museums detailed item pages. The Harvard Art Museums website and NEPIP pages include artworks from the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Sackler museum. 

This dataset is intended to facilitate research into Holocaust-era provenance for scholars, art historians and families. 

The original and best source of information concerning provenance remains the Harvard Art Museum's public website.


Original data sources that were merged to create new dataset:

• Harvard Art Museums NEPIP 
• Provenance texts for NEPIP artworks published on the Harvard Art Museums website
• Provenance texts for selected dealers published on the Harvard Art Museums website

Format: Google Sheet

URL:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT3L6P5mWffXT1B1h3KZFkB9bDf3yJ-1LO5ueGohCeqD75UZbOzCpDY1qBDMPzf-_4um3P3w8o1DZiQ/pubhtml

Download: CSV


Contents:
1. NEPIP and Selected Dealers
2. Private anonymous art market property of unknown
3. NEPIP Accession Numbers
4 About this file

Publisher: OAD

Date of Publication: March 3, 2020

Example of content: Provenance text contains word "private", "unknown", "anonymous", "art market" or "property of" 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT3L6P5mWffXT1B1h3KZFkB9bDf3yJ-1LO5ueGohCeqD75UZbOzCpDY1qBDMPzf-_4um3P3w8o1DZiQ/pubhtml?gid=1868621269&single=true