Art Crimes

This seascape, originally thought to be the work of John Constable, will be featured in the new exhibition.

Every Piece in This Exhibition Is a Fake

A new show at London's Courtauld Gallery will explore the value of counterfeit art

A Minnesota man has been indicted in connection with the 2005 theft of a pair of Judy Garland's ruby slippers, seen here when they were recovered in 2018, along with the single red sequin that was left at the scene of the crime.

Someone Stole Dorothy's Ruby Slippers in 2005. Now, a Minnesota Man Has Been Charged

While the "Wizard of Oz" shoes were recovered several years ago, authorities hadn't previously named any suspects

This stainless steel scuplture was one of 12 artifacts stolen from the Kelham Island Museum.

'Irreplaceable' Artifacts Stolen From a Museum in Sheffield, England

The 12 items are part of the region's rich history as a metalworking capital

Defendants sit next to their lawyers at the Higher Regional Court in Dresden on January 10, 2023.

Five Men Convicted in $100 Million Jewel Heist That Rocked Germany

The thieves who robbed Dresden's Green Vault in 2019 are members of the Remmo crime family

For the second time, a visitor has eaten Maurizio Cattelan's Comedian, which features a banana duct-taped to a wall.

Someone Ate Maurizio Cattelan's Banana Again

A student in Seoul feasted upon the fruit from "Comedian," an artwork featuring a banana taped to a wall

Portable altar of Countess Gertrude, shortly after 1038

Heirs of Jewish Art Dealers Move Forward With Yearslong Restitution Battle

For over a decade, they've argued that their ancestors were forced to sell valuable artifacts. Now, they're back in court with a new legal strategy

The new app will allow the FBI to crowdsource tips regarding missing artworks.

Want to Help the FBI Find Stolen Art? There's an App for That

A new mobile app provides access to the National Stolen Art File, a database of 8,000 missing items

The heist seemed like a mystery that would never be solved—until a deathbed confession by a career criminal led to the recovery of almost all of the missing timepieces.

The Time Thief Who Stole 106 Rare Clocks in a Daring Heist

Authorities eventually recovered 96 of the lost timepieces, including a $30 million watch commissioned for Marie Antoinette

Created by artists Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues, the Talus Dome is located in Edmonton, Alberta.

Man Rescued After Getting Trapped Inside Famous Sculpture

A 26-year-old man was trying to climb the Talus Dome in Edmonton, Alberta, when he slipped through an opening

One of the fake Basquiats taken by the FBI last summer

California Man Admits to Helping Create Fake Basquiat Paintings

Michael Barzman agreed to plead guilty in connection with a scandal that rocked the Orlando Museum of Art

One of the 12 antiquities that U.S. authorities returned to Turkey last month

U.S. Returns $33 Million of Looted Antiquities to Turkey

The collection of 12 items included a headless bronze statue dating to 225 C.E.

On the show, experts give contestants advice about Vermeer’s lost paintings.

Dutch Artists Compete to Paint Like Vermeer in New Reality Show

The contestants are tasked with recreating six of the old master's lost works

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Marine Guernsey (1883) is one of four paintings that the Musée d’Orsay will restitute to heirs of Ambroise Vollard.

French Court Orders Musée d’Orsay to Restitute Masterpieces Stolen During World War II

Descendants of art dealer Ambroise Vollard won a legal battle over works by Renoir, Cézanne and Gauguin

One of the pieces of Cambodian jewelry returned by the estate of antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford

Looted Gold Jewelry Returns to Cambodia

Now back in Phnom Penh, the 77 items may have been worn by Angkorian royalty

Ihor Poshyvailo, director of the Maidan Museum in Kyiv and co-founder of Ukraine’s Heritage Emergency Response Initiative, along with his crew, salvages the remains of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary built in 1862 and shelled by the Russians in March 2022.

How Ukrainians Are Defending Their Cultural Heritage From Russian Destruction

The Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative and its partners are aiding in the fight to protect the country's history and to document attempts to erase it

The Resurrected Christ Appears to His Mother by Peter Paul Rubens

Italian Police Seize Rubens Masterpiece From an Exhibition

Four people are under investigation for illegally exporting the painting and money laundering

Police in Boulder and Lakewood found all five pieces of stolen artwork in a hotel room.

Police Recover $400,000 Worth of Stolen Artwork in Colorado

The suspect allegedly broke into a locked truck that was transporting five high-end pieces across the country

Sim’oogit Ni’isjoohl (Chief Earl Stephens) of the Nisga’a Nation with the Ni’isjoohl memorial pole

Inside the Nisga'a Nation's Fight to Get a 36-Foot Totem Pole Back From Scotland

National Museums Scotland agreed to repatriate the object, which was stolen in 1929, following an in-person appeal by an Indigenous delegation

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass is leading a push to repatriate the Rosetta Stone, the Dendera Zodiac and the bust of Nefertiti to Egypt.

Who Gets to Tell the Story of Ancient Egypt?

On the eve of the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, some of the country's artifacts, from the Rosetta Stone to the bust of Nefertiti, remain overseas

Banksy painted the mural on a wall in the Ukranian town of Hostomel.

Thieves Tried to Cut Banksy Mural From a Wall in War-Torn Ukrainian Town

The mural, located outside Kyiv, depicts a woman in a bathrobe and a gas mask

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