joomla visitor

Archive for the ‘Art World Crimes’ Category

Picasso and Monets– burnt to a crisp?

 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? Carmelized Monet. No, this is not a trendy Crème Brule whipped up by a chef obsessed with molecular gastronomy, but quite possibly one of the most heinous art crimes covered by Cultural Cocktail Hour. Olga Dogaru, mother of art thief Radu Dogaru, confessed to using her oven to set ablaze seven masterpieces valued at between 100 and 200 million Euros including works by Picasso, Matisse, Gaugin (and two by Monet) as if they were no more than slices of pizza. Dogaru’s son Radu was the ringleader of a group of six Romanian art thieves who broke into

read more

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

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 more than $134 million dollars worth of art in a garbage bin. The stolen works, including paintings by Picasso, Braque, Modigliani, Matisse. and Leger were looted from the Paris Museum of Modern Art. Apparently the paintings were destroyed with the rest of the day’s trash. The sticky-fingered art thief got cold feet after his cohorts in the art spree began to be questioned by police so he dumped the masterpieces in the garbage. Not even the recycling bin, mind you. Now here is where the spurious story takes an even more sordid turn. The thief’s ally in gaining the stolen treasure

read more

2011 Art Crime: Stolen Rembrandt found in Encino Church

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 noticed the drawing placed inside his boss’ office. He assumed that it was a donation by a parishioner before recognizing the work as the stolen Rembrandt. Questions abound: Why did the art thief dump the painting in the church? Was it a spiritual crisis of conscience? Or a convenient place without security cameras? Did the title of Rembrandt’s drawing, “The Judgement,” give the thief pause? How did the art thief get access to the church’s inside office? Did he watch Ben Affleck’s heist-caper “The Town” too many times and don a nun disguise?

read more

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

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 while Joshua Bell is performing the Brahms Concerto with the London Philharmonic in Zaragoza, Spain, a man goes to the front desk of his hotel claiming to be the world-famous violinist. The Hotel clerk does not bother checking the guy’s ID. (Ever try Google Image, buddy?) The hotel hands over the key to Joshua Bell’s room to a man off the street while poor Bell fiddles his heart out on stage. The thief no doubt could not wait to get his sticky fingers on Bell’s 1713 Stradivarius, worth about 4 million dollars. But, unlike the thief, Bell was actually working that

read more

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

  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 July, 2011 The man calmly removed the sketch from the wall of the gallery, wrapped it newspaper, and then walked out into the crowds at Union Square. The brazen Picasso pilferer then hopped into a taxi, carefree as a lark, to join friends at a party in Napa, before being caught by police, who had caught his image from a security camera at a restaurant near the gallery. For more on the story, please read: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/08/MNC41K7JHQ.DTL

read more

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

 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 St. Francis and St. Lawrence is on the FBI’s list of Top Ten Art Crimes. The painting was stolen in 1969 from the Oratorio di San Lorenzo in Palermo, Sicily where it hung above the altar. One theory posits that the painting ended up in the hands of Gaetano Badalamenti, a mobster who spent his last seventeen years in prison as the leader of a “pizza connection” drug trafficking ring.  Other hypotheses include that the painting was gnawed by rats, damaged in a fire, or left in deserted farmhouse. According to Smithsonian, Gaetano Badalamenti, the mobster who ran

read more

In the news: Possible Video Clue to Gardner Art Heist

      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 video, which took place 24 hours before the art heist, the security guard allows an unknown man in a waist-length coat to enter the museum. The very next night, thieves entered the museum disguised as policemen, tying up the security guard, and stealing world famous masterpieces. Although some have speculated that the art heist was an inside job, the security guard maintains that he was a clueless hippie, who often showed up stoned to his job

read more

Breaking News! The FBI knows the Identity of Gardner Art Thieves!

Rembrandt in Philly? Monet in Connecticut? Well, Well, my dear Dr. Watson.. On the 23rd anniversary of one of the largest art thefts in world history– more than 500 million dollars worth of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum- the FBI has announced that they know the identity of the suspects. The FBI said the suspects “are members of a criminal organization with a base in the mid-Atlantic states and New England.” Was brazen art thief (and author)Myles Connor involved? Alas, the FBI is refusing to name specific culprits due to the fact that the statute of limitations has run out, precluding them from charging anyone with the crime. Drat! The FBI believes that the sticky-fingered art criminals absconded with the masterpieces to Connecticut and Philadelphia. They are currently offering a 5 million dollar reward for the recovery of the

read more

In the news: Italian art police track down copy of Da Vinci’s lost masterpiece

Italian art police have successfully tracked down a 400 hundred year-old-copy of a lost Da Vinci Masterpiece- an unfinished Fresco of the Battle of Anghiari. After being stolen, the panel’s secret journey took it from Naples to Switzerland, Germany, New York, and, finally, Japan, making it rather like the Where’s Waldo of the art world. Now, that the art detectives have triumphantly recovered the panel, it will be shown next year at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery.  For the full report, please read the BBC’s article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-20571213

read more

Unsolved Art Mysteries: WHODUNIT?

The Case of the Pilfering “Policemen” by Leticia Marie Sanchez                 WHO: Two art burglars disguised as policemen WHAT: The greatest art heist in world history WHERE: Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum WHEN: October 18, 1990 WHY: $500 million dollars worth of art Paging Sherlock Holmes and Scotland Yard! This month marks the 20th anniversary of the biggest art heist in world history. On March 18, 1990 thieves donning policemen costumes pilfered more than $500 million dollars worth of masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and Manet from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. At one in the morning on St. Patrick’s Day, the portrait purloiners approached the venerable museum, telling the unseasoned night guards that they were investigating a disturbance. Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt Admitted through the side door, they

read more