Stolen Art Alert

Below are selected items from the Stolen Art Alert section of the IFAR Journal, published by IFAR since 1977. The theft information was provided by owners and insurance companies to the police, the FBI, Interpol, the Art Loss Register, and others, and IFAR does not make any representation as to accuracy or authenticity.

Highlights

STOLEN MORE THAN ONCE -- VINCENT VAN GOGH
(Dutch 1853-1890)

Poppy Flowers (Vase with VIscaria), 1886.

Oil on canvas. 65 x 54 cm.

*L10.108951.

The painting was stolen from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo, Egypt on June 5, 1978. it was recovered in Kuwait in 1980, and two Egyptian nationals were arrested. On August 20, 2010, the painting was again stolen from the same museum. It was falsely reported as recovered in January 2019.

PETER WILLIAMS
(American, born 1952)

Fierce Fighters (Angela Davis), 2018.

Oil-based enamel and pencil on canvas.
121.92 x 91.44 cm (48” x 36”).

*L19.552.

Stolen from an art fair in Miami Beach, FL on December 9, 2018.

FRANS VAN MIERIS, The Elder.
(Dutch, 17th century)

A Cavalier, or Self-portrait as an Officer
, c.1657-59.

Oil on oak panel.
20 x 16 cm.

*N07.142.

Stolen from the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia on June 10, 2007.

LUCAS CRANACH, The Younger
(German, 1515-1586)

Charity.

Oil on panel.
48.21 x 75.01 cm (approx. 19” x 29 ½”).
Signed with the artist’s monogram at center right.

*L14.359.

Stolen from a private residence in Lons le Saulnier, France on March 6, 2014.

ALBRECHT DÜRER
(German, 1471-1528)

Die Hure Babylon, 1498.

Woodcut from the Apocalyptic Cycle.
Signed at bottom center: AD.

*L16.34.

Stolen from the residence of opera director Otto Schenk in Oberhofen, Switzerland between February 2 and March 21, 2016.

PLAQUE
(found at Nimrud, c. 720 BC)

Chryselephantine (gold and ivory).
Depicting a lioness killing a Nubian.

Cat. #175. Iraq Museum #56642.

*L03.646.

Reported stolen/looted in April 2003 from the Iraq Museum, Baghdad.

RECOVERED -- GUSTAV KLIMT
(Austrian, 1862-1918)

Portrait of a Lady
, c. 1916-17.

Oil on canvas.
68 x 55 cm (approx. 26 3/4" x 21 5/8").

*L97.305.

Stolen from the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in Piacenza, Italy in February 1997 before a planned exhibition. In April 1997, police dscovered a forgery of the painting in Ventimiglia in a package addressed to the former Italian prime minister, Benedetto Craxi. The police thought the theft might have been staged just before the exhibition to conceal the switching of the original with the forgery. In December 2019, gardeners found a bag with the authentic painting in a recess of a wall outside the gallery. The crime remains unsolved.

RECOVERED -- PINTURICCHIO (Bernardino di Betto)
(Italian, 1454-1513)

Madonna and Child.

Tempera on panel.
84 x 54 cm (approx. 33” x 21 ½”).

*N91.16.

Stolen from a private residence in Perugia, Italy in October 1990. Recovered in Italy by the Carabinieri in August 2019.

RECOVERED -- PABLO PICASSO
(Spanish, 1881-1973)

Woman's Head, 1939.

Oil on canvas.
51.51 x 38.2 cm (approx. 20 1/4" x 15").

*L12.27.

The painting was stolen along with a Mondrian painting, Mill, from the National Gallery in Athens, Greece on January 8, 2012. Greek police reported the recovery of both works in June 2021 after the thief confessed and led the authorities to a hiding place in a gorge southeast of Athens.


 

RECOVERED -- SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
(English, 1723-1792)


Portrait of Richard, 2nd Baron Edgcumbe
.

Oil painting.

*L11.229.

The painting was listed as stolen on the website of the Italian Carabinieri. The ALR spotted it  in a 2016 sales catalogue of a UK auction house, and it was recovered by the Carabinieri in January 2020.