Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Art Crimes

The new Banksy mural is on a wall beside a covered street in Marseille, France.

Banksy Unveils New Lighthouse Mural With the Words ‘I Want to Be What You Saw in Me’ in France

The anonymous street artist announced the uncharacteristically personal artwork on May 29. It’s located on a wall in the French city of Marseille

Morrison's mourners covered the bust in graffiti and chipped off pieces to keep as souvenirs before it was stolen in 1988.

This 300-Pound Bust Was Stolen From Jim Morrison’s Grave in 1988. French Police Just Recovered It

Created for the tenth anniversary of the Doors frontman’s death in 1971, the bust stood on his grave in the famous Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris for only seven years

The authenticity of Paul Gauguin's 1903 self-portrait has long been the subject of debate.

This Amateur Art Detective Thinks Paul Gauguin’s Last Self-Portrait Is a Fake

The new allegations come from Fabrice Fourmanoir, who previously identified a fraudulent Gauguin sculpture that the Getty Museum had purchased for $5 million

The mural features a red balloon covered in bandages.

Rarely Seen Banksy Mural Preserved on a 7,500-Pound Section of a Warehouse’s Wall Goes on Display in New York

“Battle to Survive a Broken Heart” features a red heart-shaped balloon covered with bandages. After spending a decade in storage, the artwork will head to auction on May 21

Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8, Mark Rothko, 1960

Child Scratches Mark Rothko Painting Worth Millions While Visiting Dutch Art Museum

Artworks by the Latvian-American Abstract Expressionist have been damaged before, but repairs have added up to hundreds of thousands of dollars

The exhibition includes pieces of ancient pottery.

Hundreds of Looted Ancient Artifacts Confiscated From the Black Market Are Now on Display in Naples

The National Archaeological Museum of Naples is showcasing 600 recovered objects, which date to between the Archaic period and the Middle Ages

The roots along Rue Daubigny in Auvers-sur-Oise as they appeared in 2020

Who Should Own the Hillside Where Vincent van Gogh Made His Last Painting?

The real-life location of the Dutch Post-Impressionist’s 1890 painting “Tree Roots” has been the subject of five years of legal battles between homeowners and a French mayor who wants to turn the site public

Newbury is the birthplace of Michael Bond, the British author who wrote the Paddington series.

Judge Reprimands Thieves in Bear Statue Heist: ‘Your Actions Were the Antithesis of Everything Paddington Stands For’

Daniel Heath and William Lawrence, a pair of 22-year-old members of the British Royal Air Force, apologized for stealing a statue of the beloved bear from a park bench

The Art Institute of Chicago is returning the 12th-century sculpture Buddha Sheltered by the Serpent King Muchalinda to Nepal.

The Art Institute of Chicago Is Returning a 12th-Century Buddha Sculpture to Nepal

Museum officials say they are voluntarily repatriating the object after learning that it had been stolen from Guita Bahi in the Kathmandu Valley

Harold Godwinson's death, as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry

Cool Finds

Newly Rediscovered, a Missing Fragment of the Bayeux Tapestry Is Returning to France

Likely removed by Nazi researchers, the scrap of fabric is a small but crucial part of the tattered tapestry’s nearly 1,000-year history

In 1974, thieves replaced Woman Carrying the Embers by Pieter Brueghel the Younger with a magazine cutout.

Cool Finds

Eagle-Eyed Experts Say They’ve Solved the Mystery of a Missing Masterpiece—Half a Century After It Was Stolen

Brueghel’s famous 17th-century painting “Woman Carrying the Embers” vanished from a Polish museum in 1974. Fifty years later, it’s been rediscovered at a museum in the Netherlands

Items like this bronze griffin head were often used to adorn ceremonial cauldrons in ancient Greek sanctuaries.

The Met Returns Stolen Seventh-Century B.C.E. Bronze Griffin Head to Greece

At a ceremony this week, Greece’s culture minister officially accepted the artifact, which was likely stolen from a museum in Olympia in the 1930s

Some argue that the statue depicts an unnamed philosopher, rather than Marcus Aurelius.

A Looted Bronze Statue That May Depict Marcus Aurelius Is Returning to Turkey

The repatriation comes after years of legal disputes over the true identity and provenance of the 6-foot-4 artwork, which has been housed at the Cleveland Museum of Art

Big Ears by artist Joe Halko

This Man Says He’s the Mysterious ‘Googly-Eye Bandit’ in Bend, Oregon

Jeff Keith, a longtime resident and nonprofit founder, says he used duct tape to affix googly eyes to two public sculptures last month

The golden helmet of Coțofenești at the Drents Museum

Art Thieves Blew Up a Dutch Museum’s Door to Steal an Ancient Golden Helmet From Romania

The blast took place in the middle of the night, allowing the burglars to abscond with four valuable objects connected to Romania’s cultural heritage

Someone has been sticking googly eyes onto public art installations, such as artist Brandon Zebold's Orb I, in Bend, Oregon.

Trending Today

Someone Is Sticking Googly Eyes on Public Sculptures in Oregon—and City Officials Are Not Amused

Many residents of Bend love the illicit adornments, which they say are sparking joy and driving engagement with public art

The bronze head of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus on display at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Copenhagen

An Ancient Statue of a Roman Emperor Will Finally Be Reunited With Its Head

The torso of the bronze sculpture depicting Septimius Severus was repatriated last year, and a Copenhagen museum has now agreed to return the head

An interpretation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by Salvador Dalí

Stunning Artworks Seized From the Mafia Go On Display at a New Exhibition in Milan

“Save Arts: From Confiscations to Public Collections” features more than 80 works recovered by Italian authorities, including pieces by Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí

Italian authorities have recovered several Etruscan antiquities stolen by tomb raiders from a burial site in central Italy.

Italian Police Arrest ‘Clumsy’ Tomb Raiders Who Allegedly Posted Stolen Etruscan Artifacts on Facebook

The items include artistic urns, a bone comb and an ancient sarcophagus with a full skeleton inside

Prints from Warhol's Reigning Queens series ahead of a 2021 Christie's sale. These portraits depict the United Kingdom's Elizabeth II and Denmark's Margrethe II.

When Art Thieves Stole Four Andy Warhol Prints, They Didn’t Realize Only Two Would Fit in the Getaway Car

The robbers only made away with two of the screen prints, which they swiped from a gallery in the Netherlands. They abandoned the other artworks on the street

Page 4 of 20