Stolen Art: WWII to Present
Dec 16, 2015
Stolen Art:WWII to Present
Think of an item (art, jewelry, furniture, ect.) of importance to you
and your family. How would you feel if this item was stolen?
WWII and Art TheftDuring WWII a large number of artwork were stolen from museums and private owners. As the Nazis invaded a country, they would go through and take the art that they wanted without regard for who it belonged to. This was called Nazi plundering.
Degenerate Art
Artworks considered degenerate, which meant it was deemed
unacceptable to Nazi ideology, was usually destroyed or sold to make money for the Nazis
during the war. The Nazis removed over 16,000 works of modern art from museums in
Germany.
How do you think war changes what art, books, and
opinions are seen and heard?
Art, War and Preservation
In the United States, there was an outcry for the
preservation of art and architecture as the war
continued. The Roberts Commission was
formed in response. A group of American soldiers named the
Monuments Men were created to preserve and protect important works of art and architecture.
The Monuments Men
The Monuments Men were mostly volunteer art
historians who became soldiers to
help the military avoid destroying important sites. In areas that had already been attacked, the Monuments Men came in and tried to
preserve what was left and protect the art from
more damage.
The Monuments Men
After WWII ended, the Monuments Men were responsible
for restoring artwork that had been damaged
during the war and trying to find the
rightful owners of works stolen by the
Nazis.
Fighting for Art
Today the search continues for
families to return stolen art.
Unfortunately, many of the owners did
not survive the war so it has been
necessary to search for their heirs.
Fighting for ArtEven today, families
fight to get their art returned but after
the war some works were sold, given to museums or even hidden in order to keep them from being taken and
returned.
Fighting for Art
The statute of limitations of claiming artwork has sometimes been a huge
setback for families looking to have their art
returned.
Do you think that the statues of limitation
should apply to art stolen during WWII? Explain.
Present Day Art Theft:Millions of works still missing
Have you heard of any recent art thefts? How often do you
think art is stolen?
-January 10, 2012, three works of art were stolen from Greece’s National Art Gallery in Athens. One of the works was a 20th century Picasso.
-Since 2006, five Picasso’s have been stolen from museums around the world, including a 2010 burglary in Paris where more than $120 million worth of art was stolen overnight.
-Less than 10 percent of stolen art is ever recovered and authorities know little about what exactly happens to such works after the theft.
Picasso’s Woman’s Head was stolen on January 10, 2012, from Greece’s largest museum
Current Art Theft
Top Ten Stolen Artists in All MediaPablo Picasso 699Salvador Dali 396Joan Miro 390Marc Chagall 361
Albrecht Durer 212Pierre-Auguste Renoir 192Andy Warhol 183Rembrandt van Rijn 181Peter Paul Rubens 147Henri Matisse 138
FBI Art Crime Team
The FBI created an Art Crime Team (ACT) in 2004 that is made up of 13 special agents and 3 special trial
attorneys. So far the team has recovered more than 2,600 items
valued at over $142 million. They run the National Stolen Art File that is a
computerized list of stolen and missing artwork from all over the
world.
Recent Art Theft Stories
Leonardo Da Vinci
Madonna with the Yarnwinder, 1501, Oil on woodMissing since August 27, 2003 from Drumlanrig Castle, Scotland
Estimated current value: $61 million
Story:Two men dressed as tourists taking a public tour of Drumlanrig Castle overpowered a young tour guide and stole this masterpiece. Aided by two accomplices, the men escaped in a white Volkswagen Golf, which they abandoned nearby.
Recovered October, 2007!
Henry Moore
Reclining Figure, 1970, Bronze sculpture, 2.7 tonsMissing since December 15, 2005, from the Henry Moore Foundation in England
Estimated current value: $5.2 million
Story:The sculpture had been temporarily moved to a yard in preparation for repositioning elsewhere on the foundation’s grounds. Using a crane and a stolen flatbed truck, three thieves were able to hoist the sculpture and drive away with it at about 10PM. A few days later, police found the abandoned truck. It is feared that the bronze sculpture was melted down for scrape metal.
Why do you think people steal art and what happens to it?
(Did you know the even Mona Lisa was stolen?!)
Interesting Art Thefts
Three paintings by Van Gogh, Picasso and Gauguin worth
$6.2 million were stolen from the Whitworth Art
Gallery in Manchester in 2003. The next day they
were found next to a public toilet. They were slightly
damaged and crammed into a tube behind the toilet. A note was attached to the
paintings claiming the motive of the thieves was to highlight poor security at the
gallery.
In one of the most audacious art thefts, armed robbers walked into Stockholm's National Museum in 2000 as visitors were milling around. They took a Rembrandt and two
Renoir paintings and escaped by a speedboat getting away with paintings worth an estimated
$36 million.
*EXTRA CREDIT*
For extra credit, choose one of the art thefts listed below and do research on it. Write 2-3 full
paragraphs about the theft and list the works of art stolen, the estimated worth of all the works stolen,
how the theft took place, and if the works have been recovered or not.
1. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft
2. The Van Gogh Museum Robbery
3. Theft from E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich