VilaWeb - Diari escola: Art Theft

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dijous, 2 de gener de 2025

> What happens to stolen works of art?

> FBI list

> Recovered works

dimarts, 25 de maig de 2010

The Museum of Modern Art in Paris (France) suffered one of the most spectacular and outrageous thefts of recent times on the night of 20 May.

Firstly, on account of the quality of the works that were stolen, which were paintings by five contemporary art masters: 'Dove with Green Peas' by Pablo Picasso, 'Pastoral' by Henri Matisse, 'Olive Tree near l'Estaque' by Georges Braque, 'Woman with Fan' by Amedeo Modigliani, and 'Still Life with Candlestick' by Fernand Léger. The combined works are worth €100 million.

Secondly, owing to the security failures (the alarm had been malfunctioning for four weeks), combined with the skill of the thief who, after entering through a window, pulled off the theft without attracting the attention of any of the guards.

All in all, the theft was worthy of a film script. However, we must not lose sight of the main point: art theft is a crime, as is passing off copies as originals.

+ Wikipedia: Art theft.

What happens to stolen works of art?

+ 'Pastoral' by Henri Matisse.

Of course, it is impossible for the paintings stolen from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris to be sold on the international market. The question, therefore, is clear: what will the thieves do? In cases such as these when well-known works have been stolen, experts turn to two possibilities. One, a dishonest collector had arranged for the works to be stolen so as to keep them in their private collection. Or two, the thieves plan to give them back in return for a ransom.

FBI list

+ 'Chez Tortoni' by Manet.

Unfortunately, art theft is not infrequent, nor has it been in the past. The FBI (the federal police force in the United States) has a list of the ten most notorious art crimes in history. The list is headed by the arts treasures looted in 2003, during the first few months of the Iraq War. Some 7,000 to 10,000 artefacts are still missing. The list also includes the 1990 heist of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, when thieves made off with works by Jan Vermeer, Rembrandt, Edgar Degas and Édouard Manet, amongst others.

Recovered works

+ 'The Scream' was recovered in 2006, two years after it was stolen from the Munch Museum.

Although these works have still not turned up, it should be said that a great number of thefts are resolved satisfactorily. Two examples, from different periods in history, are the 'Mona Lisa', Leonardo da Vinci's very famous Renaissance painting, which was stolen from the Louvre in Paris in 1911 and recovered two years later in 1913, and 'The Scream' by Edvard Munch, one of the most iconic pieces of contemporary art. It was recovered in 2006, two years after it was stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo in 2004.

MATERIALS

France requests Interpol global alert for Paris art heist treasures
Format:Web
Notícia de la Interpol, la Comissió Internacional de Policia Criminal, sobre el robatori perpetrat a París el 20 de maig.
Stolen Works of Art
Format:Web
Banc de dades d'obres d'art robades, recuperades o no. Interpol.
Art Theft Program
Format:Web
Equip de la policia federal dels Estats Units dedicat a la recuperació d'obres d'art robades.
Museum Security Network
Format:Web
Amb notícies de peces robades i recuperades.

QUE HO SABIES?

The most valuable of the five paintings stolen from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris is 'Dove with Green Peas' by Pablo Picasso, valued at some €23m.
The work of Picasso, considered by many to be the best artist of the 20th century, is a main target for thieves. Exactly a year ago, a sketchbook of drawings by Picasso, worth €8m, was stolen from the Picasso Museum in Paris.