Stolen Art: FBI's Most Wanted
 Charlotte Sector - ABC News
The FBI's year-old Art Crime Team released its top 10 list of the worst art crime thefts to track down paintings like Edvard Munch's "The Scream," Paul Cezanne's "View of Auvers-sur-Oise" and thousands of Iraqi artifacts.
| Iraqi Looted and Stolen Artifacts |
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft |
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Statue of Entemena
In March-April 2003, Iraqi cultural institutions and archaeological sites suffered major losses of priceless historical artifacts. Looting from archaeological sites continues on a massive scale. A number of artifacts stolen from the Iraq National Museum have been returned, but between 7,000-10,000 remain missing. Among the missing are the diorite statue of Entemena and almost 5,000 cylinder seals. In February 2005, the FBI recovered and repatriated 8 cylinder seals taken from archaeological sites in Iraq.
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Rembrandt, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee
In March 1990, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, was robbed by two unknown men. The thieves removed works of art whose value has been estimated as high as $300 million. These include: Vermeer, The Concert; Rembrandt, A Lady and Gentleman in Black; Rembrandt, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee; Rembrandt, Self-Portrait; Govaert Flinck, Landscape with Obelisk; Manet, Chez Tortoni.
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| Sweden's National Museum Theft |
Theft of the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius |
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Renoir, Young Parisian & Rembrandt, Self Portrait
Recovered
In December 2000, three men entered the National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden. One man threatened a guard with a submachine gun while the other two armed thieves removed three paintings worth $36 million within a few minutes. With Renoir’s Young Parisian and Conversation with a Gardner and a Rembrandt self-portrait in hand, the thieves escaped in a motor boat covering their escape with diversionary explosions in other parts of the city. One of the paintings, Conversation with a Gardner, was found later by police during a raid. The other two paintings were recovered in 2005.
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Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius
In October 1995, it was reported that a $3 million Stradivarius violin had been stolen from the New York City apartment of Erica Morini, a noted concert violinist. Made in 1727 by Antonio Stradivari, the violin is known as the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius.
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| Theft of Munch’s The Scream |
Theft of the Cellini Salt Cellar |
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Munch, The Scream
On a Sunday afternoon in August 2004, two masked thieves entered the Munch Museum in a daylight raid and stole two paintings by Edvard Munch: The Scream, and The Madonna. Many museum-goers witnessed the thieves threaten the museum staff with guns and remove the paintings from the building. They later made their escape in a black Audi.
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Cellini, Salt Cellar
In May 2003, at 4 AM, a thief used conveniently placed scaffolding to break into the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria through a first-floor window. Smashing the unprotected glass display case, the thief stole a gold, ebony and enamel salt cellar created by the noted Renaissance master Benvenuto Cellini. The salt cellar has been valued at approximately $55 million.
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| Theft of Caravaggio’s Nativity |
Theft of Da Vinci’s Madonna of Tthe Yarnwinder |
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Caravaggio, Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco
In October 1969, two thieves entered the Oratory of San Lorenzo, Palermo, Italy and removed the Caravaggio Nativity from its frame. Experts estimate its value at $20 million.
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Da Vinci, Madonna of the Yarnwinder
In August 2003, two men dressed as tourists taking a public tour of Drumlanrig Castle, Scotland, overpowered a young tour guide and stole Leonardo Da Vinci’s, Madonna of the Yarnwinder. Accompanied by two accomplices, the men escaped in a white Volkswagen Golf, abandoned nearby. Considered to be one of Da Vinci’s masterpieces, the value of the painting has been estimated at $65 million.
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| Van Gogh Museum Robbery |
Theft of Cezanne’s View of Auvers-Sur-Oise |
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Van Gogh, View of the Sea at Scheveningen
In December 2002, two thieves used a ladder to climb to the roof and break in to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In just a few minutes the thieves stole two paintings: Van Gogh’s View of the Sea at Scheveningen and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen, valued at $30 million. Dutch police convicted two men in December 2003, but did not recover the paintings.
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Cezanne, View of Auvers-sur-Oise
On January 31, 1999, during the fireworks that accompanied the celebration of the millennium, a thief broke into the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England, to steal Cezanne’s landscape painting View of Auvers-sur-Oise. Valued at $3 million, the painting has been described as an important work illustrating the transition from early to mature Cezanne painting.
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For more information on stolen art pieces: Click HERE. |
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Vallarta Living | Art Talk | November 2005 
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