Art Theft Part I

January 30, 2013

Art Theft is a Global Problem

Stolen art recovered elsewhere Huge amounts of money involved Links to organized crime Priority of art crime Italy Elsewhere?

Art Theft is Big Business

More than 100,000 missing works of art Third on the list of illicit activities Drugs Arms Art theft $2-6 billion

Affect of Art Theft

Crime affects all of us Lost pieces of cultural heritage Irreplaceable Denes our societies and cultures

What if we collected all of the missing stolen art?

Museum of the Missing: Old Masters

Raphael, Titian, Drer, Rubens, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer

Museum of the Missing: Modern Masters

Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Dali, Miro, Pollock Warhol

What Do People Know About Art Crime?

General Public Politicians and taxpayers money

Solutions to end art theft

International databases Stricter rules and regulations FBI, Scotland Yard, etc.

So when did art theft start to become so prevalent - with thieves stealing art for money? That is, when did art become such a hot commodity?

Sothebys Auction, Oct. 5, 1958

Art theft is endemic because the price of art has skyrocketed Post WWII London 1400 guest, invitation-only 7 paintings up for auction 2 Czanne, van Gogh, Renoir, and 3 Manet Jakob Goldschmidt

Sothebys 1958 invitation-only auction was the brainchild of its chairman, Peter Cecil Wilson. His glittering black-tie affair attracted much attention from the media.

Peter Cecil Wilson

Chair of Sothebys Former MI5 agent Great salesman Auction as an opportunity to bring glamor and a higher prole to the auction trade Evening affair: black-tie Closed circuit tvs Sales catalogue

Sothebys 1958 auction: Wilsons brainchild.

How was art sold prior to 1958?

How was art sold prior to 1958?

Private dealers to collectors Opinion of auctions and auctioneers US Europe

Sothebys 1958 auction: Wilsons brainchild.

Kirk Douglas Winston Churchills wife Somerset Maugham

Paul Czanne, The boy in the red vest, 1890 One of the Post-Impressionist works on the block at Sothebys 1958 auction Sold for $610,000

The Boy in the Red Vest is displayed for invited guests in Sothebys London showroom. The work went for ve times the previous record high for a painting at auction. It is now part of the collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.

Aftermath of the Sothebys Auction

Art market changed Collectors now go to public auction houses Sothebys Christies: sales increased more than 200 fold 1958: auction houses handle less than $25 million in sales 1989: almost $5 billion

So how does this relate to criminals?

Sold for over $600,000

Press: newspapers and television Paintings: a million dollar bill on the walls of poorly guarded museums

Auction of The Scream

May 2012 Almost $120 million

So Who are the Culprits?

Runs the gamut Inside jobs Poorly paid servants Street thug Organized crime Wittman: no common link yet

Robert Wittman, former director of FBIs Art Crime Team

Lets go see him talk!

Tuesday April 2, 5PM Coastal Carolina University, Conway SC Email me if youre interested

Book Review Possibility

Robert Wittman

Lets back up and look at a couple of thefts prior to 1958.

Leonardo, Mona Lisa, 1507 Stolen on Monday, August 21, 1911 Status at the time Security at the Louvre

The Investigation: Right after theft

When did they realize it had been stolen? Fingerprinting French borders sealed Trains, ships searched Tips Museum opened 9 days after theft

Viewing the empty spot where Mona Lisa should be

The theft of the Mona Lisa made headlines throughout the world

The Investigation: The plot thickens a week after the theft

Paris Journal: offers reward for info Someone implicated Picasso

Picasso, Apollonaire, and the Affair of the Statuettes

Two Iberian heads stolen from the Louvre in 1907 He possessed them illegally

The Investigation: The plot thickens a week after the theft

Paris Journal: offers reward for info Someone implicated Picasso Media explosion: turns high art into mass art

The Mona Lisa, the Media, and Pop Culture (Leonardo

returning his Mona Lisa to Paris)

The Investigation: Cold Case

Following Picassos alleged involvement: Trail went cold Shipped to Switzerland? South America? Apartment in the Bronx? Private gallery in St. Petersburg? Secret room of J.P. Morgan?

So how did the Louvre get the painting back? Who was the real culprit?

Vincenzo Peruggia Arrested for the theft in December 1913 in Florence Alfredo Geri, Florentine Art dealer But how did he steal the Mona Lisa??? And why did he do it?

How was the Mona Lisa stolen? Time Security/Guards Did he have help from anyone? Was he the mastermind? Vincenzo and Michele Lancelotti

What was his motive?

Monetary? Patriotic? Revenge against Napoleon? Public reaction to Vincenzo Peruggia in Italy Convicted in Aug 1914: 8 months in prison After prison

Status of the Mona Lisa after the theft

Before the theft After: one of the most famous paintings in the world Returned to the Louvre after triumphal tour in Florence, Milan, and Rome 100,000 viewers in the rst two days after it was returned to the Louvre

The Mona Lisa Returned to the Louvre in 1913

Mona Lisa Today: 8 million people see it a year

Still some mysteries

Did Peruggia act alone? Was there a mastermind? Argentine conman plot

You can write your book review on either of these books.

R.A. Scotti, Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of the Mona Lisa, 2009 Seymour Reit, Day They Stole the Mona Lisa, 1981

Just for fun: Stealing Mona Lisa, Carson Morton

Historical ction from 2011 Follows a possible different culprit

And now onto one of the most frequently stolen work of art ever...

Jan van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece, 1432, St. Bavo Cathedral, Belgium

St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium

Most Frequently Stolen Artwork Ever!

13 different crimes over 600 years 7 separate thefts Hunted by the Napoleon, the Nazis Panels stolen frequently

Turbulent History
1566: Protestants Napoleonic Wars: booty Vicar stole parts, ended up in Berlin WWI: hidden away Treaty of Versailles 1919: reunited

1934 Theft
Lower left panel, Righteous Judges Cheese (yes, cheese) Investigation Ransom negotiations Rumors and theories 1945: copy created 11 out of 12 panels there

Jan van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece, 1432, St. Bavo Cathedral, Belgium

Stolen panel: Righteous Judges (front) and St. John the Baptist (back

1934 Theft
Lower left panel, Righteous Judges Cheese (yes, cheese) Investigation Ransom negotiations Rumors and theories 1945: copy created 11 out of 12 panels there

Arsene Goedertier: Chief Suspect

Only I know where the Adoration is...

Nazi Theft in WWII

Hermann Gering Mystical treasure map? Salt mine in Austria Rescued

Austrian salt mine

Recent News
Getty Conservation Conservator Jos Trotteyn in 1974 Panel tested

So where is the panel?

In St. Bavo somewhere? Treasure hunts abound

Another possible book for review

Noah Charney, Stealing the Mystic Lamb

 Ghent Altarpiece Getty Conservation Project

NPR interview with Noah Charney