https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/art-crimes/RSS feed for Art CrimesenMon, 31 Aug 2026 17:11:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/thieves-steal-3000-year-old-treasure-in-a-super-professional-museum-heist-that-took-only-four-minutes-180989418/Officials were shaken after dozens of ancient artifacts vanished from the local archaeological museum in Villena, Spain. The thieves left only a few pieces from the Bronze Age treasure behindMon, 31 Aug 2026 17:11:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/thieves-steal-3000-year-old-treasure-in-a-super-professional-museum-heist-that-took-only-four-minutes-180989418/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-landlord-found-a-peculiar-print-hanging-in-a-vacant-apartment-it-turned-out-to-be-an-original-picasso-print-that-had-been-missing-for-eight-years-180989417/When "Torero" vanished from a Milwaukee art gallery in 2018, the owners didn't know whether they'd ever see it again. The man who found the etching turned it over to the police earlier this monthFri, 28 Aug 2026 15:37:31 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-landlord-found-a-peculiar-print-hanging-in-a-vacant-apartment-it-turned-out-to-be-an-original-picasso-print-that-had-been-missing-for-eight-years-180989417/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/stolen-masterpieces-worth-10-million-discovered-in-a-cardboard-box-months-after-thieves-snuck-into-a-museum-and-whisked-them-away-into-the-night-180989358/The artworks by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse disappeared in a three-minute heist earlier this year. Now, police have arrested five suspects in connection with the burglary in northern ItalyTue, 18 Aug 2026 15:24:39 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/stolen-masterpieces-worth-10-million-discovered-in-a-cardboard-box-months-after-thieves-snuck-into-a-museum-and-whisked-them-away-into-the-night-180989358/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/as-sicilians-flocked-to-religious-festival-thieves-broke-into-nearby-museum-stole-four-renaissance-paintings-180989352/The missing works include three panels from a 15th-century altarpiece by Antonello da Messina, as well as a two-sided devotional painting by the artistMon, 17 Aug 2026 19:36:01 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/as-sicilians-flocked-to-religious-festival-thieves-broke-into-nearby-museum-stole-four-renaissance-paintings-180989352/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/more-than-200-golden-mozart-statuettes-stolen-from-salzburg-months-after-famed-composers-270th-birthday-180989332/The Austrian public art installation heist is not the first time miniature statues of composers have been stolenThu, 13 Aug 2026 19:07:46 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/more-than-200-golden-mozart-statuettes-stolen-from-salzburg-months-after-famed-composers-270th-birthday-180989332/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-scallywag-schoolboy-swiped-an-abbots-kneecap-70-years-ago-his-widow-just-returned-it-to-glastonbury-abbey-180989308/George Box kept the knee bone, along with a piece of tile from the same site, throughout his entire life. He confessed the origins of their acquisition to his wife in his later yearsMon, 10 Aug 2026 20:59:58 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-scallywag-schoolboy-swiped-an-abbots-kneecap-70-years-ago-his-widow-just-returned-it-to-glastonbury-abbey-180989308/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/to-recover-artworks-looted-by-the-nazis-researchers-are-getting-creative-with-new-strategies-including-an-ai-chatbot-and-a-campaign-of-wanted-posters-180989247/University researchers hope their new artificial intelligence chatbot makes provenance research easier and more accessibleMon, 03 Aug 2026 21:33:15 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/to-recover-artworks-looted-by-the-nazis-researchers-are-getting-creative-with-new-strategies-including-an-ai-chatbot-and-a-campaign-of-wanted-posters-180989247/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/french-customs-detained-this-marc-chagall-etching-for-two-decades-after-an-attempted-border-crossing-now-its-headed-for-public-display-180989204/An acrobat perches on a violin in the absurd scene, which draws on the Russian artist's favored motifsMon, 27 Jul 2026 19:08:59 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/french-customs-detained-this-marc-chagall-etching-for-two-decades-after-an-attempted-border-crossing-now-its-headed-for-public-display-180989204/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/months-after-burglars-stole-crown-jewels-from-the-louvre-the-apollo-gallery-reopens-highlighting-its-origins-as-a-royal-reception-hall-180989182/Museum officials hope visitors will appreciate the gilded hall, conceived by Louis XIV more than 360 years ago, for its history and ornamentation, even without the crown jewelsThu, 23 Jul 2026 19:14:25 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/months-after-burglars-stole-crown-jewels-from-the-louvre-the-apollo-gallery-reopens-highlighting-its-origins-as-a-royal-reception-hall-180989182/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/man-sentenced-for-stealing-rare-and-unique-chinese-texts-valued-at-more-than-200000-by-using-aliases-fake-ids-and-dummy-manuscripts-180989134/The works were stolen from the University of California, Los Angeles, over the course of several yearsThu, 16 Jul 2026 15:18:28 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/man-sentenced-for-stealing-rare-and-unique-chinese-texts-valued-at-more-than-200000-by-using-aliases-fake-ids-and-dummy-manuscripts-180989134/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-the-latest-brazen-heist-jewelry-and-artworks-worth-5-million-were-stolen-from-famed-french-designer-lalique-museum-180989105/A trio of burglars stole 27 pieces, including a dragonfly pendant, from the Lalique Museum in eastern FranceFri, 10 Jul 2026 17:57:03 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-the-latest-brazen-heist-jewelry-and-artworks-worth-5-million-were-stolen-from-famed-french-designer-lalique-museum-180989105/