Art Crimes

Book Review: Dark Athena by Arthur Houghton III

January 31, 2023

Dark Athena by Arthur Houghton was a riveting read. It’s the perfect juxtaposition between a spy novel and an art mystery (and having read the author’s background on the book jacket, that comes as no surprise). Houghton served in the…

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Art Review: “Conserving de Kooning; Theft and Recovery” on view at the Getty Center by Leticia Marie Sanchez

July 7, 2022

Art Review “Conserving de Kooning: Theft and Recovery” at the Getty Center on view at the Getty Center June 7–August 28, 2022 by  Leticia Marie Sanchez Truth is stranger than fiction.   Who could have imagined that a pair of…

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Picasso and Monets– burnt to a crisp?

January 10, 2020

 Picasso and Monets—Burnt To a Crisp? by Leticia Marie Sanchez Cultural Cocktail Hour® is a registered Trademark Left:  Matisse, Reading Girl in White and Yellow(1919) Ed. Note: This article first appeared on Cultural Cocktail Hour in 2016 Will she ever see the light of day?…

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In the news: Picasso in the garbage? An art thief named Spiderman?

April 30, 2019

by Leticia Marie Sanchez FLASHBACK TO AN ART CRIME NEWS STORY FROM 2011 Picasso’s “Le Pigeon aux Petits-Pois” stolen from the Paris Museum of Modern Art  Sacré bleu! Is nothing sacred ? A Parisian art thief confessed that he dumped…

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2011 Art Crime: Stolen Rembrandt found in Encino Church

January 5, 2019

This post first appeared in Cultural Cocktail Hour in 2011: Only three days after a Rembrandt drawing valued at $250,000 was snatched from the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Rey, “The Judgement,” turned up mysteriously at St. Nicholas of Myra Episcopal Church in Encino.  An assistant priest…

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Art world crime: In the news: Joshua Bell impersonator robs hotel room of celebrity violinist

October 15, 2018

Throwback Tuesday to an Art Crime from 2012 Art World Crime: Joshua Bell Impersonator robs hotel room of world-famous Violinist by Leticia Marie Sanchez HELLO. MY NAME IS JOSHUA BELL. CAN SOMEONE GIVE ME A VIOLIN? OR A ROLEX? THANKS. So…

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San Francisco art heist: “The Preppy Sockless Picasso Thief”

September 22, 2018

Flashback to 2011 when a Picasso sketch was stolen by a man who preferred to go sockless.. Who: Preppy Sockless Picasso  Thief What: Steals Picasso 1962 sketch ““Tête de femme,” valued at $275,000 before heading to party in Napa Where: San Francisco’s Weinstein Gallery at Geary and Powell Streets When: Tuesday the 5th of…

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In the news: The missing Caravaggio and “the Pizza Connection”

June 13, 2018

The missing Caravaggio and the “Pizza Connection” By Leticia Marie Sanchez A pilfered painting by Caravaggio has been in the news this month, thanks to an article from Smithsonian magazine that offers new clues to the art mystery. The missing 17th century work, the Nativity with…

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In the news: Possible Video Clue to Gardner Art Heist

August 9, 2015

by Leticia Marie Sanchez Cultural Cocktail Hour® is a registered trademark The New York Times reports that federal officials have released a video that raises questions about the art heist that took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum 25 years ago. In the…

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In the news: “Fake” Van Gogh determined to be real

September 10, 2013

In an unusual twist, the very same museum that declared a Van Gogh painting to be fake in 1991 now declares it to be an authenticated work by the Dutch master. The 1888 landscape painting “Sunset at Montmajour,” has now been hailed…

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