The famous Edvard Munch painting “The Scream” will be auctioned off at Sotheby’s in New York at the beginning of May. The painting has a tumultuous history, that includes being stolen at gunpoint from Oslo’s Munch Museum in 2004. The piece was mysteriously recovered in 2006, and is only one example of the long history of thievery that exists within the art world.
After drugs and arms trafficking, stolen art is the most expensive merchandise on the international black market trade. According to the FBI, art theft, fraud, looting and trafficking cost approximately $6 billion per year, and there is a special task force trained to recover these stolen goods, known as the Art Crime Team.
Art theft is certainly not a new phenomenon, which has persisted and even increased throughout history. However, unlike drugs and arms trafficking, art thievery remains romanticized by the general public, and glorified in television and film.
After all, who hasn’t seen a story similar to “Ocean’s 12,” or “The Thomas Crown Affair,” in which art thieves are represented not as criminals, but masterful villains who deserve respect for their intellect? At times they even perform feats of great physical prowess and flexibility to achieve their prize, such as Vincent Cassel’s character in an attempt to steal the Faberge Egg.
To understand where this glorification stems from, it is necessary to understand the history. Some of the most famous art heists were committed not out of greed or self-indulgence, but to defend an ideology.
On Aug. 21, 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia lifted the “Mona Lisa” from the walls of the Louvre, and it was not seen again for two years. The former museum employee hid until after hours when he could perform his crime, and tried to donate the painting to the Uffizi gallery in Florence when it was discovered. Peruggia argued that the painting rightfully belonged to Italy, and he was returning it home.
Fifty years later, another thief climbed in through the small bathroom window of the London National Gallery, 14 feet above the ground, and made away with Goya’s “Portrait of the Duke of Wellington.”
The police subsequently received ransom notes stating that if they wished for the painting to be returned safely, the government would provide free television licenses for retired British citizens. Finally in 1965, when the thief realized his demands would not be met, Kempton Bunton turned himself in.
Stories such as these have sparked imaginations for centuries and can be credited with the fascination we continue to hold for the world of art robbery. The “Portrait of the Duke of Wellington” was even featured in the 1962 James Bond film “Dr. No,” when Sean Connery sees the stolen painting hanging in the villain’s lair. However, the current state of affairs is far from glamorous.
Post WWII, the number of ideological art heists has dwindled, leaving behind a market open to organized crime, war looting and terrorism funding. In fact, according to The New York Times, Mohamed Atta attempted to sell antiquities looted from Afghanistan in Germany in order to fund the Sept. 11 attacks.
Presently a large majority of art thefts are carried out not for the artworks themselves, but for the money that can be extorted from the insurance companies. Famous works of art are sure to be insured for thousands, if not millions of dollars, and mob bosses have noticed.
By holding the masterpiece “ransom” for less than the value the insurance companies would have to cover if it were never to be returned, organized crime units have found lucrative revenue, and museums mysteriously have their paintings back.
This is the main reason behind the many crimes that remain unsolved to the public, and are simply forgotten with time after the artwork has been returned.
However, not all art heists are solved. The most infamous unsolved case took place in Boston on March 18, 1990 when $500 million worth of art was stolen from The Dutch Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The thieves made away with Rembrandt’s only know seascape “Storm of the Sea of Galilee” and Vermeer’s “The Concert,” one of the 36 known paintings by the artist. They also stole five Degas sketches, a Manet and a Flink painting, as well as a bronze finial from a Napoleonic era battle flag. None of these priceless works of art have been seen since, and authorities speculate that mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger was behind it.
The main criticism curators face in light of these thefts is that many museums do not provide adequate protection for their exhibitions. When four thieves stole yet another version of “The Scream” from the National Gallery of Norway in 1994, they left a note behind saying: “Thanks for the poor security.”
In an interview with National Public Radio, Ulrich Boser, author of “The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World’s Largest Unsolved Art Theft” said that “far too many museums do not do enough to protect their collections.” As a result, art crime “has exploded, with as many as 50,00 heists occurring each year,” he said.
Though the motives behind art thievery have changed throughout the years, it is not going anywhere any time soon. As Boser said in his interview, “the incredible amounts of money paid for canvases, matched with the lax security at many museums around the world, makes art theft, really, a given.” And as long as art robbery persists, so will the glamorous cinematic tributes.