Ukrainian and German police have recovered a painting by 17th century Italian artist
"Taking of Christ" -Caravaggio
stolen from a Ukrainian museum, the Interfax news agency quoted Ukraine’s interior minister as saying on Tuesday.
The painting, called the “Taking of Christ,” or the “Kiss of Judas,” and considered the most valuable piece of art in Ukraine, was stolen from a museum in the Black Sea port of Odessa in 2008 in what officials described as a “cultural catastrophe.” View full article »
Thieves broke into supermodel Kate Moss’s home and stole three valuable artworks including an £80,000 portrait by Banksy.It is thought that Moss, 36, her partner Jamie Hince, and her 59-year-old mother Linda were asleep in the house when the burglars struck.
Detectives believe they may have made their escape after being disturbed when either Moss, or Kills guitarist Hince, 42, woke up.
A 24-year-old man was arrested nearby in connection with the burglary and inquiries are ongoing, police said. View full article »
"Evening on the Sea" Church
Cleaning of the 19th-century work revealed the clue that cracked the case. Church’s seascape, Evening on the Sea (1877), had been exhibited at the Century Association in New York in March 1878, and at the National Academy of Design the following month. At the time, the work’s current whereabouts were unknown. View full article »
"The Pigeon with the Peas" Picasso
The Paris art world was in shock Thursday, after French authorities revealed that a lone thief had made off with $120 million worth of modern masterpieces, including works by Picasso and Matisse, in a daring nighttime heist at the capital’s Museum of Modern Art.
According to officials, the thief cut through a gate padlock and broke a window to gain access to the museum, all without alerting the security guards or triggering the museum’s alarm system. A security camera filmed the intruder making off with five paintings, but the works were only discovered missing during morning rounds just before 7 a.m. on May 20. The stolen paintings are all priceless works by some of art’s biggest names: Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Modigliani, Leger. View full article »
MOMA Paris
Two of the world’s top art-theft sleuths discuss the heist from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris
What are the theories of two of the world’s top art-theft sleuths about the heist early Thursday morning of paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Modigliani, and Léger worth at least $120 million from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris?
“To get out of jail free, crooks use stolen paintings as negotiating cards,” said Robert Wittman, who created the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s art-crime team and is now a private art-recovery specialist. View full article »
