art theft

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Inside a 'Mysterious, Scandalous Art Heist'
Inside a 'Mysterious,
Scandalous Art Heist'
longform
Dec 15, 2024 8:01 AM CST

Inside a 'Mysterious, Scandalous Art Heist'

The Walrus explores the unusual theft of a priceless Churchill photo from an Ottawa hotel

(Newser) - "I think this is the most scandalous, mysterious art heist in Canada in the twenty-first century," declares former FBI agent Robert K. Wittman, a specialist in such thefts. He was speaking to Brett Popplewell of the Walrus , who unpacks the unusual heist in question: In late 2021 or...

After Theft, Roaring Lion Is Back Home

Portrait of Winston Churchill by Yousuf Karsh that was stolen a few years ago is now back in Ottawa

(Newser) - A stolen portrait of Winston Churchill that was swapped with a forgery during the pandemic has returned to its rightful place, after two Ottawa police detectives traveled to Rome to retrieve it. Police said The Roaring Lion was stolen from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa, sometime between Christmas...

Bust Made in That Botched Warhol Heist

23-year-old man arrested, but the stolen works haven't been found

(Newser) - Police arrested a 23-year-old man on Tuesday on suspicion of involvement in a botched art heist at a gallery in the southern Netherlands targeting four valuable Andy Warhol screen prints, reports the AP . The arrest came days after thieves blew open the door of an art gallery in the town...

This Art Heist Bombing Went 'Too Well'

Thieves destroy gallery, leave damaged Andy Warhol prints in street in 'amateurish' job

(Newser) - Thieves blew open the door of an art gallery in the southern Netherlands and stole two works from a famous series of screen prints by American pop artist Andy Warhol and left two more badly damaged in the street as they fled the scene of the botched heist, the gallery...

Days After Theft, Gallery Displays Banksy Print in Evidence Bag

'Girl With Balloon' print, stolen from London gallery on Sunday, was quickly recovered

(Newser) - One of Banksy's most iconic images was stolen from a London gallery on Sunday. Four days later, Metropolitan Police announced they'd recovered the pricey Girl With Balloon print and charged two men in the burglary. Larry Fraser, 47, of east London, and James Love, 53, of North Stifford,...

Art Student Pulls Off an Unusual Museum Theft

Ile Sartuzi steals coin at British Museum, redeposits in donation box as part of thesis

(Newser) - It's one of the more unusual museum heists you'll read about—the thief kept his bounty for only a few minutes before returning it, publicly documenting the entire thing. As the Art Newspaper reports, the strangeness unfolded at the British Museum on June 18. That's the day...

Francis Bacon Painting Found 9 Years After Break-in

4 of 5 portraits stolen from subject's Madrid home have now been recovered

(Newser) - Four down, one to go. Police in Spain say they have recovered one of five Francis Bacon portraits of Jose Capelo that were stolen from the banker's Madrid home in 2015. Another three were recovered in 2015. Police said the 1989 painting Study for Portrait of Jose Capelo was...

Stolen van Gogh Was Returned in Ikea Bag

Dutch art detective said it had become a 'hot potato' in criminal underworld

(Newser) - A Dutch art detective known as the "Indiana Jones of the art world" has recovered a Vincent van Gogh painting stolen from a museum in Amsterdam during a COVID lockdown in March 2020. In a video posted on Instagram Tuesday, Arthur Brand displayed the 1884 painting Parsonage Garden at ...

Guy Who Stole Terracotta Warrior's Thumb Pleads Guilty

Michael Rohana reaches plea deal in crime that outraged China

(Newser) - A Delaware man's legal saga is approaching its end, more than five years after an extremely ill-advised move at an ugly Christmas sweater party that led to an FBI investigation and international tensions. Days before Christmas 2017, Michael Rohana was at an after-hours party in the Franklin Institute in...

17th-Century Paintings Sent for Cleaning Now 'Untraceable'

Swiss museum suspects 2 'Old Master' artworks were stolen

(Newser) - Switzerland's biggest art museum says two "Old Master" paintings from the 17th century are missing and theft is a definite possibility. The Kunsthaus Zurich says the two paintings— Robert van den Hoecke’s "Soldiers in the Camp" and Dirck de Bray's "Daffodils and Other Flowers...

NYPD: This Couple Tried to Make Off With a Basquiat

But police say they left gallery without the painting

(Newser) - It was an audacious and nearly successful move: Police on Wednesday said a man and woman entered a Manhattan gallery on May 14, took a $45,000 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat from the wall, and began to walk out. They were stopped before making it out of Taglialatella Galleries, however....

Suspected Picasso Thief Isn't Who Police Expected

He's reportedly not a member of a sophisticated gang but just someone who loves art

(Newser) - On Tuesday Greece heralded the discovery of a precious Picasso painting that had been stolen from the National Gallery in Athens in 2012. The Guardian reports that the man suspected of taking "Head of a Woman," along with a work by Piet Mondrian, isn't who police expected....

Stolen Picasso Painting With Huge Sentimental Value Found

Artist intended for the Greek people to have it in recognition of their Nazi resistance

(Newser) - A Picasso painting that was stolen in January 2012 and has particular meaning to the Greek people has been recovered. The BBC reports the artist himself gave "Head of a Woman" to Greece in 1949 in honor of the country's resistance to the Nazis. Culture Minister Lina Mendoni...

Months Later, Arrest in Brazen Pandemic Art Heists

Man accused of stealing two paintings from two different museums in the Netherlands

(Newser) - More than a year after a Van Gogh was stolen from a shuttered Dutch museum early in the COVID-19 pandemic, an arrest has been made in that case—as well as another art heist that also took place in the Netherlands, at a different museum, months later. A 58-year-old Dutch...

Stolen Copy of World's Most Expensive Painting Is Found
Stolen Copy of World's Most
Expensive Painting Is Found
in case you missed it
Jan 23, 2021 7:00 AM CST

Stolen Copy of World's Most Expensive Painting Is Found

Italian museum didn't realize 'Salvator Mundi' copy was missing

(Newser) - A 500-year-old copy of the world's most expensive painting has been returned to an Italian museum, whose staff didn't even realize it was stolen. During a search of an apartment in Naples, police came upon the copy of Salvator Mundi , a Leonardo da Vinci original depicting Jesus Christ...

This Masterpiece Just Got Stolen, Again

'Two Laughing Boys' by Frans Hals taken from Dutch museum

(Newser) - The pandemic is bad news for art patrons because museums are mostly closed. Art thieves, on the other hand, seem to be doing OK. For the second time since the pandemic began, a painting has been stolen from a shuttered museum in the Netherlands, reports Reuters . In March, it was...

'Proof of Life' Photos of Stolen Van Gogh Emerge

Art detective says thief could be looking for a buyer

(Newser) - The Vincent van Gogh painting stolen from a Dutch museum in March has turned up—in a pair of photographs . The "proof of life" photos show the front and back of the small painting, Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring, next to a copy of the New York Times'...

18 Months After Theft, Banksy Piece Found in Attic

Authorities recover mural dedicated to Bataclan victims

(Newser) - Italian authorities on Thursday unveiled a stolen artwork by the British artist Banksy that was painted as a tribute to the victims of the 2015 terror attacks at the Bataclan music hall in Paris. The L'Aquila prosecutors' office said the work was recovered Wednesday during a search of a...

Watch an Art Thief in Action
Watch an Art Thief in Action
video
Apr 23, 2020 6:35 PM CDT

Watch an Art Thief in Action

It's less sophisticated that you might imagine

(Newser) - All it took was a few sturdy swings with a sledgehammer and a prized painting by Vincent van Gogh was gone, per the AP . A Dutch crime-busting television show has aired security camera footage showing how an art thief smashed his way through reinforced glass doors at a museum in...

Museum Shuttered by Virus 'Shocked' by Theft

Vincent van Gogh painting taken from Singer museum in Laren

(Newser) - A Dutch museum that was closed because of the coronavirus pandemic had a very unwelcome visitor or visitors in the wee hours of Monday morning: a thief or thieves who made off with a Vincent van Gogh painting. The Independent reports the 1884 work, Spring Garden, was taken around 3:...

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