Art theft

Art theft is the stealing of someone else's high-profile art. This is usually done for the purpose of resale or ransom; occasionally thieves are also commissioned by dedicated private collectors.

Individual theft

Many thieves are motivated by the fact that reasonably valuable art pieces are worth millions of dollars and weigh only a few kilograms, at most. Transportation is also trivial, assuming the thief is willing to inflict some damage to the painting by cutting it off the frame and rolling it up into a tube carrier. While most high-profile museums have extremely tight security, many places hosting multimillion dollar works have disproportionately poor security measures . That makes them susceptible to thefts that are slightly more complicated than a typical smash-and-grab, but with huge payoff. However, because the ownership of high profile art is easily tracked, potential buyers are very hard to find. Typically, a thief will steal a work, only to find out that there are no buyers. For the same reason, the stolen piece cannot be put on display publicly, which essentially defeats the purpose of having it. Unfortunately, while no thief can hope to get the actual value of the stolen work, even as little as 5% of the real value can be worthwhile for the thief. Most art is resold at auction houses; major reputable houses such as Sotheby's or Christie's demand proof of art ownership before listing. Many lost art pieces that become found and sold at auction have later been exposed as forgery or imitation.

A likely scenario in famous art theft is "theft for hire" or similar situations in which buyers have already been found. Some buyers may enjoy possessing famous art secretly. Fossil theft is an easier form of purchase as identification techniques are not as well established as art theft.

Famous cases of art theft

Last Judgment triptych by Memling (1473)

A highlight of Early Netherlandish painting was stolen several centuries prior to the later theft of two panels from the Ghent Altarpiece in 1934: Hans Memling's Last Judgment (Memling) altarpiece was commissioned in 1467, and was to become the central art piece in a de'Medici chapel in Florence. The ship transporting the painting in 1473 was looted by a "pious" pirate, offering the painting to the Gdansk cathedral. Although authenticity is undoubted, the story is plainly documented, and the now priceless painting is one of Memling's greatest masterpieces, some catalogues of the painter's work scarcely mention it. Negotiations with the city of Gdansk to restore the theft keep failing. Nonetheless, the triptych was temporarily shown at a Memling exhibition in Bruges, celebrating the 500th anniversary of the painter's death. The case is famous while it allotted the receivers of the stolen goods as well the profit of owning the art work, the profit of not needing to make any expense for hiding its whereabouts, and the profit of copyright-like earnings (e.g. when lending it for expositions or photography), over an extended period.

Gainsborough's The Duchess of Devonshire (1878)

In 1878, burglar Adam Worth stole Gainsborough's The Duchess of Devonshire from London art dealers Agnew & Agnew which he used to negotiate the release of an accomplice from prison. However, as Worth's friend had already been freed, he demanded a ransom instead, which would finally be negotiated for an undisclosed amount in 1901.

The Mona Lisa (1911)

Perhaps the most famous case of art theft occurred on August 21, 1911, when the Mona Lisa was stolen out of the Louvre. It would be two years before it was recovered. French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who had once called for the Louvre to be "burnt down", was arrested and put in jail on suspicion of theft. His friend Pablo Picasso was brought in for questioning, but both were later released.

At the time, the painting was believed lost forever. It turned out that Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia stole it by simply walking out the door with it hidden under his coat. The theft was master-minded by Eduardo de Valfierno, a con-man who had commissioned the French art forger Yves Chaudron to make copies of the painting so he could sell them as the missing original. Because he didn't need the original for his con, he never contacted Peruggia again after the crime. After having kept the painting in his apartment for two years, Peruggia grew impatient and was finally caught when he attempted to sell it to a Florence art dealer; it was exhibited all over Italy and returned to the Louvre in 1913.

Panels from the Ghent Altarpiece (1934)

Two panels of the fifteenth century Ghent Altarpiece, painted by the brothers Jan and Hubert Van Eyck were stolen in 1934, of which only one was recovered shortly after the theft. The other one (lower left of the opened altarpiece, known as De Rechtvaardige Rechters i.e. The Just Judges), has never been recovered, as the presumable thief (Arsène Goedertier), who had sent some anonymous letters asking for ransom, died before revealing the whereabouts of the painting.

Nazi Theft and Looting of Europe during the Second World War (1939-1945)

The Nazi plundering of artworks was carried out by the Reichsleiter Rosenberg Institute for the Occupied Territories (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg für die Besetzen Gebiete). In occupied France, the Jeu de Paume Art Museum in Paris was used as a central storage and sorting depot for looted artworks from museums and private art collections throughout France pending distribution to various persons and place in Germany. The Nazis confiscated tens of thousands of works from their legitimate Jewish owners. Some were confiscated by the Allies at the end of the war. Many ended up in the hands of respectable collectors and institutions.

Jewish ownership of some of the art was codified into the Geneva conventions.

Quedlinburg medieval artifacts (1945)

In 1945, an American soldier and former art teacher Joe Meador stole 12 medieval artifacts found in a cave near Quedlinburg which had been hidden by local members of the clergy from Nazi looters in 1943.

Returning the the United States, the artifacts remained in Meandor possession until his death in 1980, making no attempt to sell them. When his older brothers attempted to sell a 9th century manuscript and 16th century prayerbook from Meandor's collection in 1996, the two were arrested however the charges were dismissed after it was declared the statute of limitations had expired.

Alfred Steiglitz Gallery (1946)

Three paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe were stolen while on display at the art gallery of her husband, Alfred Stieglitz. The paintings were eventually found by O'Keeffe following their purchase by the Princeton Gallery of Fine Arts for $35,000 in 1975.

O'Keeffe sued the Museum for their return and, despite a six-year statute of limitations on art theft, a state appalite court ruled in her favor on July 27, 1979.

University of Michigan (1967)

Sketches by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and British sculptor Henry Moore, valued at $200,000, are stolen while on display in a travelling art exibit organized by the University of Michigan. The sketches were eventually found by federal agents in a California action house on January 24, 1969, although no arrests are made.

Izmur Archaeology Museum (1969)

Various artifacts and other art worth $5 million are stolen from the Izmur Archaeology Museum in Istanbul, Turkey on July 24, 1969 (during which a night watchmen was killed by the unidentified thieves). Turkish police soon arrest a German citizen who, at the time of his arrest on August 1, had in his possession 128 stolen items in his car.

The Gardner Museum (1990)

The largest art theft in U.S. history occurred in Boston on March 18, 1990 when thieves stole 12 paintings, collectively worth $300 million, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. This included Vermeer's The Concert and three Rembrandts (including his only seascape The Storm on the Sea of Galilee). As of 2006 these paintings have not been recovered.

The National Museum of Fine Art (Nationalmuseum), Stockholm, Sweden (2000–2005)

One Rembrandt and two Renoirs were stolen from The National Museum of Fine Art in Stockholm, Sweden, when three armed thieves broke into the museum and were able to flee in a boat moored in front of the museum. By 2001 the police had recovered one Renoir, by March of 2005 they had recovered the second Renoir in Los Angeles and in September they recovered the Rembrandt in sting operation in a Copenhagen hotel.

Stephane Breitwieser - The "Art Collector" (~2001)

Stephane Breitwieser admitted to stealing 239 artworks and other exhibits from museums travelling around Europe; his motive was to build a vast personal collection. In January of 2005, Breitwieser was given a 26-month prison sentence. Unfortunately, over 60 paintings, including masterpieces by Brueghel, Watteau, Francois Boucher, and Corneille de Lyon were chopped up by Breitwieser's mother, Mireille Stengel, who appeared to be unaware of the value of the works that she destroyed.

Russborough House (1974, 1986, 2001)

Russborough House, the Irish estate of the late Sir Alfred Beit, has been robbed four times since 1974.

In 1974, members of the IRA bound and gagged the Beits, making off with nineteen paintings worth an estimated £8 million. A deal to exchange the paintings for prisoners was offered, but the paintings were recovered after a raid on a rented cottage in Cork, and those responsible were caught and imprisoned.

In 1986, a Dublin gang lead by Martin Cahill stole eighteen paintings worth an estimated £30 million in total. Sixteen paintings were subsequently recovered, with a further two still missing to this day.

Two paintings worth an estimated £3 million were stolen by three armed men in 2001. One of these, a Gainsborough had been previously stolen by Cahill's gang. Both paintings were recovered in September 2002.

A mere two to three days after the recovery of the two paintings stolen in 2001, the house was robbed for the fourth time, with five paintings taken. These paintings were recovered in December 2002 during a search of a house in Clondalkin.

Frankfurt art theft and "Operation Cobalt" (1994-2003)

Three paintings were stolen from a German gallery in 1994, two of them belonging to the Tate Gallery in London. In 1998, Tate conceived of Operation Cobalt, the secret buyback of the paintings from the thieves. The paintings were recovered in 2000 and 2002, resulting in a profit of several million pounds for Tate, because of prior insurance payments. See Frankfurt art theft (1994).

Edvard Munch works (1994, 2004, and 2005)

In 1994, Edvard Munch's The Scream was stolen from the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway, and held for ransom. It was recovered later in the year.

On 22 August 2004, another original of The Scream, together with Munch's Madonna, was stolen (note that Munch painted several versions of The Scream). This time the thieves targeted the version held by the Munch Museum, from where the two paintings were stolen at gunpoint and during opening hours.

On 6 March 2005, three more Munch paintings were stolen from a hotel in Norway, including Blue Dress, and were recovered the next day. ^*

Saliera

On May 11, 2003, Benvenuto Cellini's Saliera was stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, which was covered by a scaffolding at that time due to reconstruction works. On January 21, 2006 the Saliera was recovered by the Austrian police and is supposed to be returned to the Kunsthistorisches Museum within the coming days.

Recovery

The Art Loss Register (ALR) was formed in 1991 in London by a partnership of leading international auction houses and art trade associations, the insurance industry, and the International Foundation for Art Research. Its shareholders include Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Phillips, de Pury and Luxembourg, and others. It is the world's largest database of stolen art and antiques dedicated to their recovery.

The portrayal of art theft in popular media

Fictional art thefts are often portrayed in the media as glamorous and exciting. These are often in the category of crime fiction or caper story.

Literature

There is a niche of the mystery genre that is devoted to art theft and forgery.

Author Iain Pears has a series of novels known as the Art History Mysteries, each of which follows a fictional shady dealing in the art history world
St. Agatha's Breast by T. C. Van Adler follows an order of monks attempting to track the theft of an early Poussin work
Chasing Cezanne by Peter Mayle
The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa by Robert Noah is a historical fiction speculating as to the motivations behind the actual theft

Film

There is some overlap with the crime genre of film, but usually feature complicated heist plots and visually exciting getaway scenes. In many of these movies, the stolen art piece is a MacGuffin.

In the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, the title character is a stylish, debonair playboy who steals art for amusement rather than for the money. The 1968 Thomas Crown film arranges the theft of cash from banks, not art.
Once a Thief (1991), directed by John Woo, follows a trio of art-thieves in Hong Kong who stumble across a valuable cursed painting.
In Two if by Sea (1996), the main characters are attempting to unload a valuable painting and lead a normal life.
In Entrapment (1999), an insurance agent is persuaded to join the world of art theft by an aging master thief.
Ocean's Twelve (2004) involves a competition to steal a Faberge egg

External links

Art crime | Art thieves | Theft

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