When we talk about vandalism we usually are discussing slashing paintings or pouring corrosive materials on them but this one is very different. This one involves fire.

While the damage we’re talking about today isn’t necessarily done on purpose, I’m still including it in the vandalism category since it’s stupid and 100% preventable.

Bridging the gap between performance art and activism is Deborah de Robertis. Her work draws attention to power dynamics, challenges social norms, and pokes holes in the conventions of the art world.

Described as one of the worst acts of cultural vandalism in modern times, the looting of artifacts from the National Museum of Iraq following the US invasion of the country in 2003 is a shocking event that is still not fully resolved today.

Here we go again, likely the title is someone you’ve never heard of but he has been lauded by some as an art expert who helped them purchase incredible pieces for absolute steals. However, as I’m sure you’re realizing, nothing is ever that simple here.

In 2002 it took thieves under 4 minutes to break into the van Gogh Museum, steal two paintings and vanish into the night. How did they do it? Where were the paintings? And, how did they ultimately get recovered? (Yes, we have a happy ending).

Four days before Christmas in 2017 a clay thumb, from a sculpture of a clay soldier on loan to the museum, vanished. No one seemed to know where it went and the search for it went on to involve the FBI in order to reclaim the digit. 

Usually when a painting is stolen from a gallery or museum or private collection it’s never seen again, as we sadly know by now. But what happens when they do resurface? How do museums go about getting them back?

This crime, also known as the Transy Book Heist, has made its way to notoriety through the extensive media coverage, inclusion on the FBI’s list of most significant art crimes, and movies and TV shows being based on the events. 

We’ve talked about Benvenuto Cellini before here, remember the gold salt cellar? Well when researching that I realized that actually he’s an artist with a pretty interesting personal history of crime and just general weirdness that I thought was worth exploring.

A young artist with a promising career but he spent most of his life incarcerated, which is where he created some of his most iconic works. But what happened? And how did he get to be so well known after his death?

Everyone knows that during WWII a lot of looting happened, specifically of fine art pieces. A lot of that was done by the Nazis but some of it was done by the other side too. Today we’re going to talk about one of those cases and how that painting came home.

Today we have a pretty interesting case to talk about, robberies from an artist’s workshop, not of art pieces themselves but of the artist’s supplies, even though the completed works are way more valuable than just the raw materials used to construct them.

This heist has a little less elegance, finesse, and creativity than some others that we’ve talked about before but I’m pleased to say that I actually get to bring you a happy ending today!

I think it’s no breaking news that Andy Warhol’s work, especially his screen prints are iconic and instantly recognizable. That also can mean that people want to have them in their private collections.

I feel like I can hear you saying what kind of cruise ship has fine art on board and having never been on a cruise in my life I actually don’t know but this crime proves they do. The FBI even got involved to crack this one.

Once called the wunderkind in the art dealing and gallery business, Inigo Philbrick was sentenced to seven years in prison in March 2022. But why?

You might be asking yourself, what’s a reverse art heist and how could there have been more than one. Well my dear friends we’re going to learn about two pretty notable ones that happened recently in Germany and the very different ways they were dealt with.

You might think that someone working in a museum would be the most invested in protecting artwork and ensuring its safety. Think again.

I thought, since we talk so much on here about heists and missing artworks, so I figured it was time to talk about the people that work to recover these pieces safe and sound, mostly. Let’s delve into the interesting history of one such person who is sometimes called the Indiana Jones of the art world.