Art Historians misunderstanding provenance?

Readers of LM will know that I am trying to discourage the term provenance for archaeological material. One of the reasons is that we need to focus on collecting histories. Histories need to be mapped and documented. The debate about the Cleveland Apollo will bring this debate into sharp focus. There will be a discussion of the reliability of information. Art Historians may feel satisfied by hearsay, but those who have studied the art market tend to be more critical in their acceptance of information.

For earlier discussion of the term see here.