Masterpieces by Caravaggio, Picasso, Van Gogh, and others have vanished from museums and churches due to theft. While some have been recovered, many treasures remain missing.
Priceless artworks have long been targets of bold thefts. History has recorded numerous events that have shaken the global art market. While some pieces have been recovered, many treasures remain missing, leaving a significant void in humanity’s cultural heritage, according to the Telegraph. (Image source: The New York Times).
In 1969, Caravaggio’s masterpiece Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence was stolen from a church in Palermo, Sicily (Italy). The nearly 3-meter tall painting is believed to have fallen into the hands of the Sicilian Mafia. After 55 years, despite efforts from the FBI, Interpol, and the Italian police, the artwork remains missing. It is estimated that this piece could be worth up to $20 million on the black market. (Image: Factu Arte, Arts Life).
In 2010, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris (France) fell victim to a shocking theft. Five priceless paintings, including Picasso’s The Pigeon with Green Peas, Matisse’s Pastoral, and Braque’s Olive Tree near l’Estaque, disappeared without a trace. The total value of these five paintings amounts to hundreds of millions of euros. This incident is considered one of the worst events for the city of Paris, comparable to the Notre-Dame fire. (Image: ArtsDot).
The Poppy Flowers, valued at $55 million, was stolen twice from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo (Egypt). The first theft occurred in 1977, and the painting was found a decade later. However, in August 2010, Poppy Flowers disappeared once again and has not been located since. (Image: Lowe’s, Van Gogh Studio).
In 2008, the Emil Bührle Collection Museum at Kunsthaus Zurich (Switzerland) witnessed a spectacular art theft. Armed, masked thieves broke into the museum and stole four priceless paintings by Van Gogh, Cézanne, Degas, and Monet, escaping in a car. (Image: Art Crime).
Art Recovery International (ARI), a UK-based organization, has played a crucial role in recovering stolen artworks, including the theft at the Green Vault in Dresden. Christopher A. Marinello, the founder of ARI, stated that the organization often receives information about stolen works when they are offered for sale on the black market. ARI then negotiates with the holders to find a satisfactory solution for both parties. (Image: Art Recovery).
Recently, ARI helped recover silk prints by Andy Warhol valued at $500,000 from the artist’s Endangered Species collection. Earlier this year, Spanish police also recovered a painting by British artist Francis Bacon that was stolen from an apartment in Madrid in 2015. (Image: Valleyfine Art, MutualArt).
ARI not only focuses on conventional thefts but also aims to recover artworks looted by the Nazis during World War II. One of the organization’s targets is Myrto, a painting by Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka, which was stolen from France during the war. However, recovering these artworks is not easy. Many who possess these illicit works often exploit Germany’s privacy laws to conceal their crimes. (Image: Progetto Genderqueer).
In 1976, German performance artist Ulay staged a shocking protest by stealing the painting The Poor Poet by Carl Spitzweg, a favorite of Adolf Hitler. Ulay took the painting to a poor neighborhood in Kreuzberg and hung it on the wall of a Turkish family’s apartment. This “theft” was not just an art performance but also a powerful condemnation of the institutionalization of art and the discrimination against migrant workers. (Image: Wahoo Art).
