Following a report from the Dutch Council of Culture, several major museums have pledged to repatriate looted artworks in an attempt to rectify historical wrongs. An estimated 100,000 artefacts stolen by colonialists could be subject to restitution.
Continue reading
A solid gold toilet on display at Bleinheim Palace was stolen in the early hours of Saturday morning (14 September 2019).
The heirs to a stolen Joshua Reynolds oil painting are seeking its return after it turned up 35 years later in a Tokyo museum.
The descendants of a Nazi soldier are to return a €2 million (£1.8 million) painting to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Germany announced the result of the secret deal this week, which will see the painting handed back almost 75 years since it was looted. Continue reading
A stolen painting by French neo-impressionist Paul Signac, valued at approximately $1.68 million (£1.3 million), was recovered by Ukrainian police last week. Continue reading
Missing for nearly 20 years, a stolen Pablo Picasso painting worth £21 million has been recently recovered by Arthur Brand, a Dutch art detective. Continue reading
It might have been one of only two artworks by Michelangelo in Belgium and now a 16th century painting has been snatched from St Ludgerus church in the small Flemish town of Zele. Continue reading
A stolen painting by Willem de Kooning made headlines on 11 August when it re-emerged after 30 years. Now it has been revealed that ‘Woman-Ochre’ was hanging in the bedroom of a couple’s home in New Mexico since it was burgled from the University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson in 1985. Continue reading
Hundreds of experts from across the globe will descend on London in September for an international conference on Nazi-looted art.
‘70 Years and Counting: The final opportunity?’ will be the first European conference dedicated to the issue of spoliation in five years. Organised by the UK Government and the Spoliation Advisory Panel and sponsored by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe the conference will aim to bolster efforts to return stolen artworks to their original owners. It will look at strengthening partnerships and increasing cooperation to speed up the process of restitution. Continue reading
It was the biggest art heist recorded in United States history.
In the early hours of 18 March 1990 two men dressed as police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Overpowering a night security guard, the thieves stole 13 works of art right off the Museum’s walls. Continue reading
