On the Case

Volume 50, Issue 1 :: Shauna Lee Lange

Solving the theft of art (some of it sacred) around the globe

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) formed a rapid deployment Art Crime Team in 2004, partly as a result of the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad’s looting problem. Coordinated through the FBI’s Art Theft Program and located in Washington, D.C., special agents and the U.S. Department of Justice enforcers investigate and prosecute art theft within assigned geographic regions. In addition to response teams, the FBI maintains a computerized index and record of reported stolen art and cultural property valued over $2,000, known as the National Stolen Art File (NSAF). People may file online reports at FBI Tips and Public Leads. And the FBI Art Theft News Page offers up-to-date notices and events.

It is estimated that art crime totals between $4 and 6 billion dollars every year, although exact numbers are difficult to find. Much of the stolen work ends up in the US market as art and cultural property. Here, the problem usually centers on residential burglaries for and from private collections. Thefts from houses of worship, museums, archaeological sites, and Native American burial grounds also occur. And although museums and places of worship are among common targets, they are high risk for would-be-thieves, even in countries with no organized art police.

According to Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, the Art Theft Program’s manager, “There is specialized training involved for the Art Crime Team. We need to get them familiar with the periods of art, the vocabulary of art, art history, but more importantly with the business of art. Most often when we identify stolen art we identify it as it’s coming back into the marketplace.”

Cultural crimes include art thefts, art forgeries, archaeological thefts, and cultural property violations of which theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking stolen art across state and international lines are most common. However, critics of FBI recovery activities cite only a five percent success rate, where world recovery rates are only near ten percent. According to the FBI, Art Crime Team agents receive specialized training in art and culture property investigation and assist in art-related investigations worldwide in cooperation with foreign law enforcement officials and FBI legal attaché offices. Since its inception, the Art Crime Team has recovered nearly 15,000 times valued at more than $165 million.

Interestingly, at the close of last year, just three out of ten of the FBI’s top art crimes originated domestically (listed by date):

1. Theft of Renoir Oil Painting, Houston, Texas, 2011
2. Theft from Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 2007
3. Theft from the Museu Chacara Do Céu, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, 2006
4. Iraqi Looted and Stolen Artifacts, Iraq, 2003 (recovered)
5. Theft of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Murals, West Hollywood, California, 2002
6. Van Gogh Museum Robbery, Amsterdam, Holland, 2002 (recovered)
7. Theft of Cezanne’s “View of Auvers-sur-Oise,” Oxford, England, 1999
8. Theft of the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius, New York, New York, 1995 (recovered)
9. Theft from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, Massachusetts, 1990
10. Theft of Caravaggio’s “Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence,” Palermo, Sicily, 1969

When any US art crime involves international regions, the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducts its expanded mission for Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations. The U.S. Department of State Cultural Heritage Office protects and preserves ancient and historic monuments, objects, and archaeological sites. Internationally, INTERPOL’s Database of Stolen Works of Art is the go-to resource since 1947, and the United Nations has global databases for national cultural heritage laws, sharing electronic resources and laws on crime, conventions for cultural property protection, and organizations for drugs and crime.

Art crimes and illicit trafficking of cultural property lead the news in emergency actions in Syria and Iraq for man-made disasters, and in Haiti and Italy for naturally occurring ones. Looting of art and cultural property during war and conflict continues to be a significant international problem. Art crime expands and strengthens in spite of difficulties in liquidating works, hiding works for unknown futures, or challenges with underground offerings.

Certain regions, including Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, and South East Asia are particularly victim to art crime, likely due to the ease of undetected cross-border travel and the lack of integrated international statistics and sophisticated recovery efforts. Types of preferred stolen objects vary from country to country. Paintings, sculptures, statues, and religious items are highly sought. Archaeological pieces, antiquarian books, antique furniture, coins, weapons and firearms, or ancient gold and silverware are also coveted. Worldwide, the most prevailing type of art crime is counterfeit and fraudulent works resulting from technological advancements.

In June 2017, the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art (ARCA) will hold its 8th Annual Interdisciplinary Art Crime Conference in Amelia, Italy. ARCA is a research and outreach organization working to promote the study and research of art crime and cultural heritage protection. The conference serves as a forum to explore the role of detection, crime prevention, and criminal justice responses to combat all forms of art crime and illicit trafficking in cultural property at both the international and domestic levels.

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