Art crime

California man admits to selling over $1m in forged art, purportedly by Richard Hambleton and Barkley Hendricks

Jason Harrington pleaded guilty to selling phony paintings to at least 15 galleries and individuals between 2018 and 2020

What the US government sanctions of prominent Bulgarian art collector Vassil Bojkov mean for the art market

Oligarch is blacklisted as countries ramp up regulation and authorities move yet another step closer to the art world

Mexican man arrested by FBI for attempting to sell allegedly fake works by Basquiat and Haring

Angel Pereda was offering paintings and sculptures by the artists to auction houses in New York

Greek police recover Picasso and Mondrian paintings stolen nine years ago in major heist

Authorities have reportedly arrested a man after the paintings were found in a gorge

Interpol launches app to identify stolen art—and it has already been used to discover loot

Spanish police say they used the ID-art programme to successfully spot stolen Roman coins worth €200,000

How a Van Gogh painting was stolen from a Cairo museum—not once, but twice

The Khalil Museum, with its fabled Impressionists in a mansion by the Nile, has reopened after an 11-year renovation—without Vincent’s flower still-life

a blog by Martin Bailey

Dutch police arrest over Van Gogh smash-and-grab raid: how long until the landscape is recovered?

The suspect is linked to a Frans Hals theft, which should help track down paintings from two museums

a blog by Martin Bailey
Podcastspodcast

Can Netflix help solve the Isabella Stewart Gardner art heist?

Plus, vaccine passports in museums and Gossaert's Adoration

Massachusetts man arrested for breaking into Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with a stolen painting

The man allegedly opened an emergency door at the museum and threw in a painting he had stolen from a nearby gallery days earlier

Congolese activist who tried to seize an artefact from the Louvre is fined €5,000

Mwazulu Diyabanza says that “museums do not deserve respect” as restitution debate intensifies

Samsung partners with art crime expert to hunt for world's missing masterpieces

Paintings by Monet, Van Gogh and Cézanne, which were stolen in dramatic art heists, are available to view online

Artful codgers: why the art market is a hotbed of grey crime

The recent case of a 71-year-old dealer convicted of art fraud is far from unique—in fact, elderly offenders could be on the rise

Man tries to take artefact from Louvre—just two weeks after being charged for the same crime at Quai Branly

Congolese activist Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza, fined €1,000 earlier this month, will go to court again later today

Criminal claims 13 works from legendary Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist are hidden in a Dublin house

BBC4 documentary—released today—unpicks theory that the stolen art was shipped to Ireland

Stolen Mao Zedong scroll worth $300m found cut in half after being resold for $65

Hong Kong police have arrested three men in relation to a $645m heist that included calligraphy by the Communist leader and other revolutionary art and ephemera

Two Manhattan antiquities dealers arrested on charges of fraud

Authorities have accused Erdal Dere and Faisal Khan of running an alleged scheme to swindle buyers by using fake provenances

Brazilnews

Court-ordered auction of works from disgraced Brazilian banker's collection prompts new controversy

The Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of São Paulo claims it is owed $3.6m for conserving and storing around 1,600 works repossessed from bankrupt Banco Santos president Edemar Cid Ferreira

Will US Congress finally pass anti-money laundering legislation?

A recent Senate report found that secretive art market enables sanctions circumvention

Man who punched £20m Picasso painting at Tate Modern is jailed for 18 months

Repairing the piece—on long-term loan from a private collection—will take more than a year and cost up to £350,000

Experts weigh in on alleged art forgery ring in Michigan

Art historians explain why the work of lesser known artists with rising markets, like George Copeland Ault and Gertrude Abercrombie, might become the target of a fakes scheme

California man sentenced to five years in prison for $6m international art fraud scheme

Philip Righter pleaded guilty to selling works fraudulently attributed to Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, among others

Podcastspodcast

The destruction of Australia’s ancient Aboriginal heritage

Plus, art under threat in Putin's Russia and George Shaw on Thomas Jones. Produced in association with Christie's

Hosted by Ben Luke. with guest speaker Sophia Kishkovsky. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Aimee Dawson

Spanish dealer claims to find long-lost Frida Kahlo painting

Missing for six decades, La Mesa Herida (The Wounded Table) may be in a London warehouse, but experts say the work is likely a fake

Van Gogh held hostage: private detective tells us he has more photographs

Will Arthur Brand’s images of the stolen painting lead to a recovery?

a blog by Martin Bailey

German art dealer and socialite Angela Gulbenkian arrested in Lisbon

Accused of fraudulent sales of a Kusama pumpkin sculpture and a Warhol print, the dealer and collector awaits extradition to the UK after missing court hearing

Fugitive art dealer Inigo Philbrick found on Pacific Island, charged with $20m fraud scheme

London and Miami-based Philbrick, on the run since October, was arrested by FBI on Vanuatu on Thursday

Podcastspodcast

Art theft: are museums safe under lockdown?

Plus, Laura Cumming on Breugel. Produced in association with Christie's

Hosted by Ben Luke. , with guest speaker Martin Bailey. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Aimee Dawson
Art crimecomment

Don't let your guard down: three things you can do now to protect your art during the pandemic

With sparse personnel and visitors, some criminals will try to see if the “closed” sign actually means “open”, say K2 Intelligence FIN's art crime experts

In recent decades 28 Van Goghs have been stolen in the Netherlands—but all have been recovered

Detectives are intensifying their investigation into the latest crime, at Laren’s Singer museum, which was committed this week on the artist’s birthday

a blog by Martin Bailey
Art theftanalysis

Boomerang art thefts: the stolen art that finds its way back

From a Van Gogh left in a public toilet to a Klimt found inside a gallery wall, just what is it that prompts criminals to return such valuable works?