Buzz
When most people think of art theft, the first images that come to mind might be Pierce Brosnan’s charming smile in *The Thomas Crown Affair*, or perhaps the lighthearted escapades of Peter O’Toole and Audrey Hepburn in *How to Steal a Million*. In these portrayals, art crime is often romanticized and made to look thrilling and fun. As a fan of art heist films, I can understand why this fantasy persists. But what are the real crimes that plague the art world behind the scenes? What are the transgressions that cause anxiety among artists, dealers, and collectors?
Here are ten types of art crime, presented without ranking (though the juiciest scandals might come last). Many of these categories overlap—for instance, art forgery is a form of fraud—but each one points to a distinct area of criminal behavior, with some crimes far more widespread and severe than others. The art market is a vast, lucrative industry, but also one of the least regulated and monitored. And now, let’s dive into the shadowy side of the art world…
10. Appropriation
Though artists have drawn inspiration from past creators for centuries, sometimes reinterpreting cultural symbols hits too close to home for the original creator. Some argue that referencing another's work verges on plagiarism, violating copyright laws; while others see it as a form of free speech or homage, a commentary in the form of parody. Accusations of appropriation have been levelled at artists from the world of pop art to postmodernism, with legal cases multiplying as contemporary art continues to engage with pop culture icons, mass-produced commodities, and the very concepts of originality and authenticity. From Andy Warhol to Shepard Fairey to Jeff Koons, numerous renowned artists have found themselves in the crosshairs of such lawsuits, with mixed results. Yet not every legal battle ends in the courtroom. Damien Hirst, the self-proclaimed “richest artist alive today,” has been dogged by accusations of idea appropriation for years, and not all cases have reached trial. While some critics have tried to destroy his reputation in public, Hirst has responded: “Lucky for me, when I went to art school we were a generation where we didn’t have any shame about stealing other people’s ideas. You call it a tribute.” Point taken.
9. Vandalism
As a fan of (good) graffiti, I’m not here to that form of art; instead, I’m focusing on vandalism as the intentional harm inflicted upon artworks in museums or galleries. Though rare, vandalism has damaged some of the art world’s most iconic pieces: da Vinci’s *Mona Lisa* has been attacked no fewer than four times, including incidents involving acid, a rock, red paint, and – believe it or not – a teacup. Rembrandt’s *The Night Watch* has been slashed with a knife twice (the details of the first incident remain unclear), and subjected to acid on a third occasion; it was restored after every attack. Some acts of vandalism have oddly moralistic motives, such as when Tony Shafrazi spray-painted the phrase “Kill Lies All” onto Picasso’s *Guernica*, claiming it was part protest, part upgrade of art history. Similarly, Alexander Brener justified his painting of a green dollar sign on Kazimir Malevich’s *Suprematisme* as a “dialogue” with the deceased artist.
Perhaps the strangest case of art destruction involves the so-called ‘serial art vandal’ Hans-Joachim Bohlmann (1937-2009). Over the course of 29 years, Bohlmann deliberately damaged over 50 paintings displayed in public exhibitions. His weapon of choice was sulfuric acid, targeting portraits in particular. Bohlmann completely destroyed a Paul Klee piece and left lasting damage to works by Rembrandt, Rubens, and Dürer. The total estimated cost of his criminal spree amounted to 270 million Deutsche Marks, or around $180.3 million in 2010 US dollars. Diagnosed with a personality disorder, Bohlmann underwent various treatments, including electric shock therapy, antipsychotics, antidepressants, tranquilizers, a lobotomy, and, ironically, art therapy. He eventually succumbed to cancer.
8. Improper Care
Though not officially classified as a crime, poor or careless object care can make art restorers, curators, conservators, appraisers, and collectors recoil in horror. Over-cleaning a painting, refinishing a vintage piece of furniture, exposing an artwork to excess humidity or the wrong temperature—such missteps can wreak havoc on the appearance and worth of a piece. The debate over proper care is complicated by differing opinions among experts, as well as the evolving state of art conservation. Some argue that today’s advancements in technology and research have enabled restorers to more faithfully honor the artist’s original vision, making them more precise than their predecessors. Others contend that art is mishandled on a daily basis, with disastrous consequences. As Mauro Pelliccioli, art professor and restorer, said in the 1960s, “Today more art is destroyed than is rescued by restoration. There has been no epoch so dangerous, so catastrophic for painting, as that through which we are passing.” Poor restoration techniques can also attract attention in their own right, as seen with the National Gallery’s 2010 exhibition, “Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries.” A key piece in the exhibit, *Woman at a Window* (ca. 1510-30), was revealed to have undergone a rather *ahem* generous alteration during a 1978 restoration, with the figure originally being far bustier than previously thought. The theory suggests that nineteenth-century restorers made the adjustments to suit the modest tastes of the time; luckily, later restorers were able to easily strip away the extra paint.
7. Trafficking
The illicit trade of art objects refers to the movement and exchange of stolen works. While theft and looting are discussed elsewhere, this section focuses on the transport and sale of these items after they have been stolen or plundered. In Western 'market' nations, buyers unknowingly or knowingly purchase stolen art from source countries, a practice that remained largely unregulated until recent times. Some claims about this trafficking are downright chilling: art journalist Godfrey Barker has stated that 'the illegal trade is 3,000 to 4,000 years old, if not actually older,' and speculated that around 98% of antiquities are stolen. Although the accuracy of this figure is uncertain, it paints a grim picture of the global market for cultural treasures. Perhaps even more disturbing are the prominent individuals who have been implicated in such crimes; the network of offenders ranges from museum staff and curators to dealers and high-profile collectors. Even employees from major auction houses, such as Sotheby’s and Paris’ Hôtel Drouot, have faced accusations. A trafficking ring tied to these auction houses led to twelve arrests in December 2009. Those accused of art trafficking have included a variety of antiquity dealers, a former president of the National Association of Dealers in Ancient, Oriental, and Primitive Art, and even a curator from the Getty Museum.
6. Forgery
From the earliest days of art's market value, individuals have sought to pass off works as creations of others. One might assume that modern technology and advanced analysis methods would have rendered forgeries a thing of the past, but this is far from true. Often, these tools and methods are either inaccessible to potential buyers or dealers, or experts can present convincing arguments for both sides, leading to uncertainty. In 1996, art historian Thomas Hoving estimated that forgeries made up as much as 40% of the art market.
Artists like Dalí, Picasso, Matisse, and Klee are particularly targeted, given the massive demand for their works and their extensive portfolios. Interestingly, not all forgers attempt to replicate a style flawlessly; some intentionally introduce anachronisms, hidden messages, or flaws to protect themselves from future accusations of forgery. Some forgers have even managed to turn their notoriety into profit. After being exposed, art forger Thomas Keating – who claimed to have created over 2,000 counterfeit paintings in the styles of more than 100 different artists – went on to appear on British television, explaining the techniques of old masters. In some cases, forgers become so infamous that their fakes gain value as collectibles in their own right. A notable example is the work of Han van Meegeren, a renowned Vermeer forger, whose forgeries were so highly regarded that his own son began creating fakes of his father's fakes. These were literally forgeries of forgeries. For those curious about art forgeries, the Museum of Art Fakes in Vienna, Austria offers an intriguing look into the phenomenon, showcasing the widespread appeal of these faked masterpieces.
5. Fraud
In an industry notoriously lacking in strong regulations, where deals are often based on personal trust and a firm handshake, it’s surprisingly easy to perpetrate scams and get away with them for years, or even decades. Former New York City gallerist Larry Salander was recently sentenced to a prison term ranging from 6 to 18 years for defrauding clients, artists, and investors. His schemes, believed to have cost around $120 million, involved selling unauthorized artwork, failing to notify consigners of sales, providing false information to secure loans, and keeping payments instead of passing them on to the rightful owners.
Other fraudulent activities that have made headlines include the case of a former payroll manager at the Brooklyn Museum, who embezzled $620,000 by issuing fake paychecks and wiring the money into his personal account, and the story of a Winterthur Museum facilities manager who spent $128,000 on a company credit card for personal purchases, including flat screen TVs, computers, a digital camera, and ATVs. Investment fraud has also seeped into the auction world, with the personal belongings of Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff and the art collections of disgraced financiers Halsey Minor and Marc Dreier being auctioned off or planned for future sales. As auction houses eagerly compete to display these criminals’ stolen gains, it raises an ethical dilemma: should buyers purchase goods that may have been bought with the money of defrauded victims?
4. Theft
Finally, we arrive at art heists, the most sensationalized form of art crime! This type of theft is all too familiar in current news outlets, with high-profile cases involving the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo (where Van Gogh’s Poppy Flowers was the stolen masterpiece), the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (where works by Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Modigliani, and Léger were taken), and even lavish private homes like that of supermodel Kate Moss in North London, where three pieces of art, including a Banksy portrait, were stolen. Contrary to how Hollywood portrays these crimes, art thefts from museums, galleries, or private collections are often easier than expected; thieves often exploit weak or non-existent security systems, or simply strike during periods of time when exhibits are being switched out and security is more lax. Unfortunately, the artworks frequently suffer damage during the theft, such as when crooks cut paintings from their frames or roll canvases, causing delicate paint chips to fall off.
It’s an unsettling truth that little has changed since the most infamous art heist of the 20th century: the 1990 theft of thirteen artworks, including pieces by Degas, Rembrandt, Manet, and, the most valuable missing piece today, a $200 million Vermeer, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The thieves, disguised as police officers, managed to deceive the few security guards on duty, allowing them to enter the museum unhindered. Interestingly, during the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa, Pablo Picasso himself was briefly questioned in connection with the stolen painting. Scholar Silvia Loreti even suggests, in her essay “The Affair of the Statuettes Re-Examined”, that Picasso may have orchestrated the theft of Iberian statue heads from the Louvre, which inspired his famous painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907).
3. Homicide
If you've read items 10-2 on this list, it’s clear that art possesses a mysterious ability to inspire a wide range of criminal activities. As art is created, traded, collected, and admired by human beings—who are inherently passionate and fallible—it’s not surprising. What is surprising, however, is the realization that some of the great figures in art history have also been involved in some truly horrific personal crimes. Highlighting these instances isn’t intended as a deep commentary on the nature of artists, but rather to uncover lesser-known details that might satisfy any morbid curiosity surrounding our creative icons.
Many are aware that Caravaggio, known for his fiery temper, killed a man during a fight and spent his later years as a fugitive. Others might recall the infamous attempted murder of Andy Warhol in 1968 by Valeria Solanas, who shot him in his Factory studio. There are also those who may have forgotten that in the 1980s, minimalist artist Carl Andre was tried for second-degree murder after his wife, Ana Mendieta, fell 34 floors to her death. While Andre was acquitted, the circumstances surrounding the fall—was it suicide, an accident, or was she pushed?—remain shrouded in suspicion. The most controversial accusation against an artist, though largely dismissed by the art world, was made by crime writer Patricia Cornwell in 2003, when she suggested that English Impressionist Walter Sickert may have been the notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper.
2. Looting
Images of post-war looting are common throughout history, showing conquerors parading the spoils of Persia, Jerusalem, or other looted territories as part of their victory processions. But these acts aren’t confined to the past; there are still ongoing repatriation negotiations for artwork looted during the chaos of World War II, as well as from the more recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to Noah Charney’s Art & Crime: Exploring the Dark Side of the Art World (2009), up to 75% of all art crimes involve looting and the antiquities trade, which are particularly profitable since, unlike more well-known stolen works, they can often be sold openly for their full market value. Sometimes, war booty isn’t trafficked to collectors, but instead kept as personal mementos, such as when an Allied veteran took and later returned a rare book found in Hitler's Bavarian Alps home. On a more uplifting note, there are moments in history where the fear and horrors of war spurred acts of incredible courage. During WWII, a group known as the 'Monuments Men' dedicated themselves to protecting Europe’s cultural treasures from Nazi plunder. They hid these artifacts in salt mines, castles, villas, and even a jail cell, often working under extreme time pressure to catalog, pack, and transport entire museum collections to secret locations. For a fascinating look at the efforts taken to safeguard art during this period, I highly recommend the documentary, The Rape of Europa (2007).
1. Mass Destruction
Here, I’m talking about the widespread destruction of cultural institutions and artifacts for political, religious, or wartime reasons. Looting, which generally involves taking art with the intention of profiting from its value, is discussed separately. Whether it’s the deliberate act of an adversary or the unintended result of a misfired bomb, the destruction of historical landmarks, archaeological sites, and art institutions is a grievous act that reverberates across borders, not just within the nation that owns the affected land. Iconoclasm has been a significant feature of religious histories among the Byzantines, Muslims, and Protestant reformers, as well as being a tool for political upheaval in ancient Egypt, Rome, and the Chinese Cultural Revolution, among countless other examples. Sadly, the mass destruction of art remains a serious issue. The 9/11 attacks obliterated works such as a Louise Nevelson sculpture, a Joan Miró tapestry, a Roy Lichtenstein painting, and over 300 pieces by Auguste Rodin. In Iraq, during the war, the American military destroyed parts of the ancient Babylon site to make space for parking lots, while a bomb blast from insurgents damaged the top of the Great Mosque of Samarra’s minaret (once the largest mosque in the world).
+ Art World Snootiness
For today’s aspiring artist or art professional, the art world’s notorious elitism, its insular nature, and the pretentious attitudes it often carries can feel like insurmountable barriers. Faced with this old-school art world snobbery, it’s easy to forget that art is meant to be about creativity, education, exploration, and encouragement. But if you look beyond the dismissive remarks and condescending glances, take comfort in knowing that there are many more inclusive and community-focused cultural spaces than you might imagine. Non-traditional art venues are gaining popularity—some offering a mix of bookstores, small galleries, residency studios, and little shops—and from my experience, these places often do a better job of serving as hubs for relaxation, learning, connection, and innovation.
