Many valuable paintings have been stolen. The paintings listed are from masters of Western art which are valued in millions of U.S. dollars. The US FBI maintains a list of "Top Ten Art Crimes";[1] a 2006 book by Simon Houpt,[2] a 2018 book by Noah Charney,[3] and several other media outlets have profiled the most significant outstanding losses.
The largest art theft in world history occurred in Boston on March 18, 1990, when thieves stole 13 pieces, collectively valued at $500 million, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Among the pieces stolen was Vermeer's The Concert, which is considered to be the most valuable stolen painting in the world. A reward of $10,000,000 is still offered for information leading to their return.
The largest art theft in world history occurred in Boston on March 18, 1990, when thieves stole 13 pieces, collectively worth $500 million, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Among the pieces stolen was Landscape with an Obelisk, which had been attributed to Rembrandt. A reward of $5 million is still offered for information leading to their return.
Man with a Pipe (shown here in black and white half-tone) has been missing from Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, since 1998 (between 27 July and 2 August), having disappeared while in transit on loan.[6]
View of Auvers-sur-Oise is a landscape painting by Paul Cézanne. It was stolen from the museum on the last night of 1999, during a celebration of fireworks.[7]
Stolen on 11 February 2010 from Andrássy 94 szám, Budapest, Palace Hübner by robbers using force. Criminal case, Budapest Police - BRFK VI.ker. Rendőrkapitányság 010060/465/2010
Poppy Flowers (also known as Vase and Flowers and Vase with Viscaria) is a painting by Vincent van Gogh with an estimated value of $50 million.[11] The painting, which is of a vase of yellow and red poppies, contrasted against a dark background is a reflection of Van Gogh's deep admiration for Adolphe Monticelli, an older painter whose work influenced him when first he saw it in Paris in 1886.[12] Egyptian officials erroneously believed they had recovered the painting only hours after its theft when two Italian suspects attempted to board a plane to Italy at Cairo International Airport.[13] The same painting had been stolen from the same museum on June 4, 1977, and was recovered ten years later[14] in Kuwait.[15] The painting is small, measuring 65 x 54cm, and depicts yellow and red poppy flowers.[16] It is believed that van Gogh painted it in 1887, three years before his suicide.[14]
The Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence (also known as The Adoration) is a painting from 1609 by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio. It was stolen on October 16, 1969, in Palermo, Sicily. The painting is large, measuring almost six square metres (actual size 268cm x 197cm) and hung above the altar. Probably because of its size, it was removed from its frame by the thief or thieves (two suspected) before being taken out of the church. After it was stolen, the Oratory was pillaged of other artworks, along with choir stalls of carved and gilded wood and benches inlaid with precious woods and mother of pearl.
Le pigeon aux petits pois (The Pigeon with Green Peas[19]) is a 1911 painting by Pablo Picasso.[20] It was one of five paintings stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris on May 20, 2010, which together are worth about €100 million ($123 million). The painting has supposedly been discarded, as one of the thief's accomplices, Jonathan Birn, who was supposed to keep it safe, claims to have destroyed it. [19][21]
Still Life with Candlestick (Nature morte au chandelier[19]) is a 1922 painting by Fernand Léger.[20] It was one of five paintings stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris on May 20, 2010, which together are worth about €100 million ($123 million). The painting has supposedly been discarded, as one of the thief's accomplices, Jonathan Birn, who was supposed to keep it safe, claims to have destroyed it. [19][21]
The Just Judges (145 × 51cm) is the lower left panel of the Ghent Altarpiece, by Jan van Eyck or his brother Hubert Van Eyck. As part of the altarpiece, it was displayed at the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, until stolen during the night of April 10, 1934, possibly by the Belgian Arsène Goedertier (Lede, December 23, 1876 – Dendermonde, November 25, 1934). The bishop of Ghent received a ransom demand for one million Belgian francs. On November 25, 1934, the thief revealed on his deathbed that he was the only one who knew where the masterpiece was hidden, and that he would take the secret to his grave. Although several people have claimed to know its whereabouts, the painting has never been recovered and is now believed by many to be destroyed. The panel was replaced in 1945 by a copy by Belgian copyist Jef Vanderveken.
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is a 1907 painting by Gustav Klimt. According to press reports it was sold for US$135 million to Ronald Lauder for his Neue Galerie New York in June 2006, which made it at that time the most expensive painting for about 4 months.[27] It has been on display at the gallery since July 2006. Klimt took three years to complete the painting. It measures 138cm × 138cm and is made of oil and gold on canvas, showing elaborate and complex ornamentation as seen in Jugendstil. Klimt was a member of the Vienna Secession, a group of artists that broke away from the traditional way of painting. Adele Bloch-Bauer, in her will, asked her husband to donate the Klimt paintings to the Austrian State Gallery upon his death.[28] She died in 1925 from meningitis. When the Nazis took over Austria, her widowed husband had to flee to Switzerland. His property, including the Klimt paintings, was confiscated. In his 1945 testament, Bloch-Bauer designated his nephew and nieces, including Maria Altmann, as the inheritors of his estate.[29]
Portrait of a Young Man is a painting in oil on panel, probably from 1513 to 1514, by the ItalianHigh RenaissanceOld Master painter and architect Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino better known simply as Raphael.[30] The painting was plundered by the Nazis in Poland. The subject's identity is unverified, but many scholars have traditionally regarded it as Raphael's self-portrait. The facial features are perceived by specialists as compatible with, if not clearly identical to, the only undoubted self-portrait by Raphael in his frescoThe School of Athens at the Vatican, identified as such by Vasari. If it is a self-portrait, no hint is given of Raphael's profession; the portrait shows a richly dressed and "confidently-poised" young man.[31] In recent times, a book about Nazi plunder by Lynn H. Nicholas and a documentary film by the same title, The Rape of Europa, suggested that if the painting were to reappear today, it would be worth in excess of US$100M.
En Canot (shown here in black and white) was exhibited at the Kronprinzenpalais, Nationalgalerie, Berlin, where it had been housed since 1927. The work was acquired by the Nationalgalerie in 1936 (on deposit by the Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Kunst und Volksbildung), where it was placed on display in Room 5. It was later confiscated by the Nazis around 1936, displayed at the Degenerate Art Exhibition (Entartete Kunst) in Munich and other cities, 1937–38, and has been missing ever since
in 1939 the Nazi Gestapo confiscated roughly 750 Old Master drawings from Feldmann after they invaded Brno in the present-day Czech Republic
The Penz was sold at Sotheby’s in 1946. The art collector Rosi Schilling donated it to the British Museum, which settled a Nazi spoliation claim from Feldmann's grandson in 2013.[34]
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Now in the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The painting's continued and increasing fame was heightened when it was stolen.[35] The Louvre was closed for an entire week to aid the investigation.[36] Recovered after the thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, attempted to sell it.
Assessed in 1962 at $100 million.[37] Adjusted for inflation, it would be worth $782 million today.
One of around 450 paintings looted from the collection of Paul Rosenberg by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR). Missing for over 70 years, it was discovered in the Munich home of Cornelius Gurlitt in 2012 and later returned to Rosenberg's heirs.[38]
Stolen in broad daylight by Paul Hogan and Bill Fogarty to highlight Ireland's claim to the Hugh Lane bequest of 39 important works of art. The painting was returned anonymously several days later via the Irish Embassy.[39]
Cut out of its frame shortly after the museum opened that day. Sketches of a couple believed to be responsible were distributed widely but they were never identified; the couple in whose home the painting was found after their deaths in the 2010s has been suspected. Currently being restored.[41]
Insured for $400,000 at the time of theft; however the market value of similar de Kooning works had increased to above $100 million by the time it was recovered and the museum believes it is worth $160 million today
The Scream has been the target of several high-profile art thefts. In 1994, the version in the National Gallery, Oslo was stolen. It was recovered several months later. In 2004, both The Scream and Madonna were stolen from the Munch Museum.
Believed to have been stolen shortly before a special exhibition was planned at the gallery in Piacenza. Recovered after 23 years hidden in the gallery wall in Piacenza.
Stolen with a Rembrandt and another Renoir by armed raiders. Conversation was recovered in a drugs raid, the other two paintings were recovered in 2005.[46]
Self-portrait with Beret and Gathered Shirt (‘stilus mediocris’) by Rembrandt
The small self-portrait on copper by Rembrandt was stolen from Nationalmuseum in Stockholm along with Renoir's A Young Parisienne and Conversation in an armed robbery in December 2000. It was recovered in Copenhagen. Conversation was recovered in Stockholm a few months after the robbery and A Young Parisienne was recovered in Los Angeles in 2006.[47]
An 1894/95[49] painting (Venturi 681) depicting a boy in traditional Italian attire. Stolen along with three other pieces.[50] It was the museum's most valuable painting. Recovered in Serbia.
The Van Gogh Museum is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on 2 June 1973, and its buildings were designed by Gerrit Rietveld and Kisho Kurokawa.
The Scream is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The Norwegian name of the piece is Skrik (Scream), and the German title under which it was first exhibited is Der Schrei der Natur. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images in art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including The Scream, had a formative influence on the Expressionist movement.
Art theft, sometimes called artnapping, is the stealing of paintings, sculptures, or other forms of visual art from galleries, museums or other public and private locations. Stolen art is often resold or used by criminals as collateral to secure loans. Only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered—an estimated 10%. Many nations operate police squads to investigate art theft and illegal trade in stolen art and antiquities.
The Potato Eaters is an oil painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh painted in April 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands.
Paul Rosenberg was a French art dealer. He represented Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Henri Matisse. Both Paul and his brother Léonce Rosenberg were among the world's major dealers of modern art.
Lost artworks are original pieces of art that credible sources indicate once existed but that cannot be accounted for in museums or private collections or are known to have been destroyed deliberately or accidentally or neglected through ignorance and lack of connoisseurship.
The Foundation E. G. Bührle Collection is an art museum in Zürich, Switzerland. It was established by the Bührle family to make Emil Georg Bührle's collection of European sculptures and paintings available to the public. The museum is in a villa adjoining Bührle's former home. In 2021 many works were exhibited on 20-year loan in almost a whole floor of the new extension of the Kunsthaus Zürich museum. There was controversy due to suspicions that many works were looted from Jews by Nazi Germany. The foundation was managed for decades by Bührle's son Dieter, who was sentenced to a conditional prison term of 8 months in 1970 for supplying weapons to the racist apartheid regime in South Africa.
Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris or MAM Paris, is a major municipal museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries, including monumental murals by Raoul Dufy, Gaston Suisse, and Henri Matisse. It is located at 11, Avenue du Président Wilson in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.
The Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum is a museum in Giza, Egypt. It is located in a palace built in the early 20th century.
Le pigeon aux petit pois, sometimes referred to as Dove with green peas, is a 1911 oil on canvas painting by Pablo Picasso. It is an example of Picasso's Cubist works and has an estimated value of €23 million. The painting was one of five artworks stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris on 20 May 2010, which together are valued at €100 million. It has so far not been recovered and its whereabouts remain unknown.
Poppy Flowers is a painting by Vincent van Gogh with an estimated value of US$55 million which was stolen from Cairo's Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum twice; first in 1977, then again in August 2010 and has yet to be found.
Blossoming Chestnut Branches was painted by Vincent van Gogh during the artist's Auvers-sur-Oise period in May 1890, the final year of his life.
The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen, alternatively named The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring or Spring Garden, is an early oil painting by 19th-century Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, created in May 1884 while he was living with his parents in Nuenen. Van Gogh made several drawings and oil paintings of the surrounding gardens and the garden façade of the parsonage.
Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer is an oil-on-canvas painting by Frans Hals, created c. 1626, showing a Kannekijker (mug-looker). It hangs in the Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden museum in Leerdam, Netherlands. It was stolen from the museum in 2020 and is still missing.
Rolf Nikolaus Cornelius Gurlitt was a German art collector. The son of Hildebrand Gurlitt, a Nazi-era dealer of looted art, Gurlitt was discovered to have concealed a stash of artworks known as the Gurlitt trove or Gurlitt Collection, several of which have been proven to have been looted from Jews by Nazis.
Art Recovery International is a private company that provides due diligence, dispute resolution and art recovery services to the international art market and cultural heritage institutions. It is headquartered in Venice, Italy.
Still Life with Candlestick is an oil painting created in 1922 by the French artist Fernand Léger.
Mohsen Shaalan or Shalaan was an Egyptian artist and deputy minister of culture, serving as the head of the fine arts sector from 2006 until 2010. He was ousted from his position in the Ministry of Culture following the 2010 theft of Van Gogh's Poppy Flowers from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo. He later served one year in prison on charges stemming from the theft, which prosecutors argued was made possible by insufficient security under his watch.
The Nationalmuseum robbery was the robbery of three paintings worth a combined total of $30–45 million USD from the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden, on 22 December 2000. The stolen paintings were a self-portrait by Rembrandt and two Renoir paintings, Conversation and Young Parisian. The paintings have been recovered.
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