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