Art Crimes

Some of the hundreds of brass plaques taken from Benin City in 1897 now held by the British Museum

European Summit to Discuss the Return of Looted West African Art

Treasures taken by a British invasion in 1897 could return to Nigeria as a permanent exhibition

Prittlewell Priory in Essex, Britain.

PSA: Do Not Place Your Child in an 800-Year-Old Coffin

A sarcophagus on display at the Prittlewell Priory Museum in England was damaged when visitors did just that

Munch's painting 'The Scream' is one of Western art's most familiar images.

The Mysterious Motives Behind the Theft of ‘The Scream’

Two versions of ‘The Scream’ have been stolen and recovered in Norway

American soldiers sift through art looted by the Nazis at Neuschwanstein Castle in 1945

Legal Fight Over Nazi-Looted Painting Ends After 26 Years

The heirs to the Paul Klee masterpiece, which was seized 80 years ago as "degenerate art," have finally reached a settlement with the city of Munich

This 1540 painting by Titian has had 11 owners.

New Website Tracks Paintings Provenance from Brush to Gallery Wall

<i>Mapping Paintings</i> makes it easier to figure out an artwork’s chain of ownership

The recovered artwork.

Professor Helps Bust Italian Art Theft Ring

The professor noticed that a rare manuscript had been stamped with the seal of the Royal Library of Turin, leading him to believe that it had been stolen

Joseph Goebbels viewing the 1937 Degenerate Art Exhibition.

Why It’s So Hard to Find the Original Owners of Nazi-Looted Art

International experts recently gathered at Smithsonian to discuss the state of international provenance research

Vermeer's "The Concert" was stolen by thieves in the 1990 heist. It is one of just 36 paintings by the artist in existence.

Gardner Museum Offers $10 Million for Information About 1990 Heist

The museum believes that somebody, somewhere can shed light on the whereabouts of 13 missing masterpieces

This smart tag contains synthetic DNA and other security measures to help authenticate and track the provenance of canvas.

Can Giving Paintings Their Own DNA Stop Art Forgery?

Science is leading the charge against copycats

Ornate Tiara, Once Worn by a Grand Duchess, Stolen From German Museum

The headpiece is adorned with 367 diamonds and has been valued at $1.31 million

This painting by Adriaen Coorte was among art stolen from an East German art collector by the Stasi in the 1980s.

Germany Will Research Stasi Art Seizures

The Nazis weren’t the only group that looted German treasures

World’s Largest Gold Coin Stolen From Berlin Museum

Thieves appear to have snuck through a window before making off with the almost 221-pound coin

Rock art from the Ennedi Plateau

Vandals Deface Rock Art In Chad's Ennedi World Heritage Site

Names were written in French and Arabic on some of the area's rock art, which can date back as far as 8,000 years

'The Morning Walk" by Thomas Gainsborough

Man Charged After Slashing Gainsborough Painting at the National Gallery

Fortunately, preliminary reports suggest that "The Morning Walk" can be repaired

A reproduction of the "Tower of Blue Horses," which hasn't been spotted since the late 1940s.

Two New Exhibitions Celebrate a Long-Lost Painting

The "Tower of the Blue Horses" is gone, but not forgotten

The front of the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris.

Co-Defendant in €100 Million Art Heist Claims He Threw Five Masterpieces in the Trash

But investigators are skeptical

Coins recovered during Operation Pandora

Police Recover More Than 3,500 Stolen Artifacts in Europe

Operation Pandora involved 18 nations and pan-European police agencies to recover paintings, coins and artifiacts

Poland Gets a da Vinci at a Big Discount

The world famous Princes Czartoryski Foundation was recently acquired by the Polish government for a fraction of its value

This Egon Schiele painting, Portrait of Wally, was looted during World War II and became the subject of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in the 2000s after it was exhibited in New York.

Reclaiming Nazi-Looted Art Is About to Get Easier

HEAR Act removes legal loopholes that prevented victims of Nazi art plunder to restore what’s rightfully theirs

A closeup of Bernini's "The Elephant and the Obelisk" before it was damaged.

One of Rome’s Most Famous Sculptures Has Been Vandalized

Bernini’s “Elephant and Obelisk” is missing part of its tusk

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