ArtTheft

Degas Painting Lifted From French Museum

Filed under: Art, Crimes and Misdemeanors

2009 ended with a little art theft in France. On Thursday, a Degas painting, Les Choristes was stolen from the Cantini Museum in Marselle. The AP reports that the painting is worth around $1.15 million and was on loan from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. The small pastel painting was painted in 1876-77 and depicts choral singers. A security guard discovered that the painting was missing but no other details are known yet. Degas works have been a target before, one was stolen during a major heist in 2008.

Tags: art theft, ArtTheft, cantini, degas

Picasso Notebook Swiped From Paris Museum

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

A sketchbook full of crayon drawings by Pablo Picasso has been stolen from the Picasso National Museum in Paris. The notebook contains 32 drawings and is estimated to be worth between $8.4 million and $14 million. The drawings are dated 1917 to 1924. The sketchbook was stolen from the first-floor exhibition room and noticed to be missing just before lunchtime on Tuesday. The independent says that there were no signs of a break-in and the alarm system did not go off.

The 6 inch by 9 inch pad was kept in a high security glass cabinet which could only be opened with a special key but there is some question of whether or not the lock was broken. There were no security TV cameras. A special exhibit of the works of Daniel Buren which is being shown in the museum includes a giant mirror that may have blocked the view of the staff.

The museum is located in the Hotel Sale townhouse which has been under renovation for the last couple of years. Many of the museum's major Picasso works are currently away on loan to raise money for the renovations which is why exhibits by other artists are being shown in the museum. Paris police have said it looks to be a well-organized theft and that the works would be hard to sell on the open market. One thing that concerns me is the possibility that the sketches could be broken up and sold individually on the black market.

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Tags: art, art theft, ArtTheft, pablo picasso, PabloPicasso, paris, picasso national museum, PicassoNationalMuseum

Dali Swiped From Dutch Digs

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Armed robbers absconded with two paintings from the Scheringa Museum for Realist Art in Spanbroek last Friday. One of them was a piece by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali. An exact number of thieves was not reported, but they were "several," and they wore masks. Walking into this museum with guns, they threatened the museum staff and dashed off wit the prize.

Driving off in a little black car, the art bandits left with "Adolescence," painted by Dali in 1941, and "La Musicienne," by Polish art deco painter Tamara de Lempicka (1929). Both paintings ~~are~~ were owned by the museum.

If you have a taste for Dali, look for the fence. Just don't get caught!

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Tags: amsterdam, art, art theft, artist, ArtTheft, dali, netherlands, salvador dali, SalvadorDali, surreal, surrealism, surrealist

Stolen Caravaggio Painting Found

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Often when paintings are stolen they never are seen again but this Caravaggio painting,Taking of Christ, or the Kiss of Judas , has been found. The painting had been stolen from the Museum of Western and Eastern Art in the Black Sea port of Odessa last July. Thieves bypassed the alarm system, removed a window pane and took the work from its frame, according to Art Daily. The finding of the painting was revealed by sources close to the Ministry of the Interior in Ukraine.

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Tags: art, art theft, ArtTheft, caravaggio, painting

$200,000 Offered For Stolen Artwork

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

If you've seen any of the nine missing paintings shown above you could earn yourself a $200,000 reward. These paintings were stolen during a home robbery in Encino, California at the end of August while the elderly owners were in a back room. The thief stole paintings including Marc Chagall's "Les Paysans," Diego Rivera's "Mexican Peasant," and Arshile Gorky's "Cubist Still Life," a total of at least a dozen artworks in less than one hour. The Los Angeles police have announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to the paintings' return. But, as the L.A. Times reports, it is unknown where the money came from, only that it was not a government source.

Each painting is worth at least six figures with some worth over $1 million. If the thief doesn't know exactly what they have it may show up on the market soon at a pawn shop or other places but a more savvy thief might be willing to wait a while and then quietly slip it onto the market in another part of the country or overseas. The pieces have been registered in the Art Loss Register and in the FBI and Interpol stolen art files so anyone who does their homework should be able to know what they are getting. However, the networks to sell stolen art are elaborate and secretive and many pieces are not recovered. Often if a piece is not recovered quickly it can disappear for many years or even permanently.

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Tags: art, art theft, ArtTheft, diego rivera, DiegoRivera, encino, marc chagall, MarcChagall