ART THEFT

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ART THEFT
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Art theft is the stealing of someone elses high
profile art. This is usually done for the
purpose of resale thieves may also be
commissioned by dedicated private collectors.
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Categories of art thieves

• Amateur typically involves looting during
  wartime,
• finders-keepers

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Art Thieves

• Professional 4th largest international criminal
  enterprise,
• attracts two major criminal types opportunists
  seeking to make a lot of money or superthieves
  who steal for the thrill of collecting or
  fulfilling a wealthy patrons request for a
  certain work of art

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Professional theft of art may occur for several
reasons

• Criminals intend to sell the work on the open
  market.
• works generally end up being recovered (Hint
  you can not sell that multimillion dollar Da
  Vinci on eBay without someone noticing).

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• Theft commissioned by a wealthy individual who
  desires to possess a certain work of art or work
  by a particular artist.
• crimes are more difficult to solve since the
  collector tends to stash the art in a vault or
  may only show it off to other wealthy friends
  (who arent in need of Crimestoppers money).
• pieces are not usually found until after the
  death of the collector.

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• 3. The thrill of a challenge overcoming
  seemingly impossible odds (i.e. security guards,
  cameras, impenetrable buildings)

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• 4. Status within the criminal community or the
  use of the stolen art for leverage in plea
  bargaining.

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• 5. Love or obsession with art or a particular
  artist

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Where do art thieves strike?

• Museums (15 of all thefts)
• Galleries
• Churches
• Private collections

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How much money is there to be made stealing art?

• The FBI believes that the illegal market of
  stolen art may net around. . . .
• FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!

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What are the most famous cases of art theft?
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Mona Lisa

• August 21, 1911 The Mona Lisa was stolen out of
  the Louvre.
• Picasso was brought in for questioning by the
  police.
• French citizens crowded the Louvre to stare at
  the wall where the painting had hung, thereby
  ensuring the paintings fame.
• The painting was recovered in two years.

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Russborough House Irish estate

• Robbed FOUR times since 1974!

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• 1974 members of the IRA steal 19 paintings
  worth an estimated 16 million dollars and want to
  trade the paintings for prisoners. Paintings
  recovered on a raid.
• 1986 a Dublin gang stole 18 paintings worth an
  estimated 60 million dollars. 16 paintings are
  recovered. Two paintings are still missing.

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• 2001 2 paintings worth an estimated 6 million
  were stolen by three armed men. One of the
  paintings had previously been stolen (1986).
  Both paintings are recovered in September 2002.
• Two days after the two paintings are recovered in
  September 2002, the house is robbed for a 4th
  time and 5 paintings are taken. These are all
  recovered in December 2002.

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The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist

• March 18, 1990 in Boston, Massachusetts
• 124 a.m.

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• Two men in police uniforms tell museum guards
  they are there to answer an alarm. Guards are
  handcuffed to a railing, museums video cameras
  are disarmed.
• Thieves spend over 90 minutes stealing works by
  Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Manet.
• 15 years later, these works are still missing. A
  5 million dollar reward is being offered for
  their return.

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The Scream
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• Oslo, Norway 1994
• Winter Olympics are opening in nearby
  Lillehammer.
• Two thieves break into the gallery and take a
  version of Edward Munchs most famous work.
• The gallery alarm is ignored by guards.
• Thieves leave a note Thanks for the poor
  security.
• Piece of the frame is left at a deserted bus
  stop. Masterpiece is eventually recovered.

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The Whitworth Gallery Manchester, England
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• 2003 thieves evade video cameras, alarms, and
  24-hour security patrols to steal three paintings
  by Van Gogh, Picasso, and Gauguin worth an
  estimated 8 million dollars.
• Paintings are found the next day, slightly
  damaged and crammed into a tube placed behind a
  public toilet.
• A note left with the paintings claims the motive
  to the thieves was to highlight poor security at
  the gallery.

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Infamous art thieves
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Vincenzo Peruggia

• Former Louvre worker who took the Mona Lisa when
  the room was empty of guards and visitors.
• Tried to sell it two years later. Hid it under
  the tablecloth when police came to search his
  apartment.
• Claimed he did it for patriotic reasons wanted
  to bring Da Vincis work back to Italy.
• Served one year and fifteen days in jail.

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Stephane Breitwieser

• French waiter who believed himself to be an art
  connoisseur.
• Admitted to stealing 239 artworks, which he kept
  in his bedroom at his mothers house. He never
  attempted to sell them.
• His mom destroyed many of the artworks when she
  heard of his arrest. She cut some up and threw
  them in the trash and threw others in the canal.

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• On January 7, 2005, Stephane was sentenced to
  three years in jail but will serve only 26
  months.
• His mother will serve only 18 months.
• Around 110 pieces in his collection have been
  recovered. 60 are unaccounted for and presumed
  destroyed.