01 HISTORICAL DOSSIERS
Still Missing
The artworks still sought. The families still searching.
Explore the cases
Global Archive of Art Theft, Forgery & Restitution
Explore documented cases of stolen art, art forgery, recovery and restitution worldwide, along with related court disputes. Every report links to its source.
Six countries · a global watch
Live clocksArt crime across time zones
Clocks show the time now. Below each clock: the latest documented case in that country from our archive.
Red mark: source-reported theft time. An arc shows a reported time window on the outer 24-hour scale. Only shown where timing is documented.
“Published” is the report date, not the theft date. Cases may cover thefts, recoveries or returns. Click a clock for the case details and source.
Why these six countries? · Data published in 2023
These are the six leading countries in an INTERPOL register snapshot published by a Cornell Data Journal team on 16 December 2023. Counts refer to objects registered as stolen, not theft incidents. This historical snapshot is not a current, comprehensive worldwide ranking.
- France8,133 objects
- Italy7,721 objects
- Turkey3,034 objects
- Iraq2,786 objects
- Belgium2,336 objects
- Netherlands1,756 objects
Published analysis ↗Underlying data table ↗About the INTERPOL register ↗
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All countriesThefts around the world
Art Theft Map
Explore reported theft locations in the archive. Pins are approximate; dates refer to source reports. A historical theft report does not mean the artwork is still missing.
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Drag to pan; use + / − to zoom. This map shows reports in this archive, not all art thefts worldwide.
Browse the reports on this map (128)
- ArgentinaBronze elements stolen from Güemes monument
- AustraliaStolen Ermenegildo Zegna trophy remains missing despite reward
- AustraliaSparkly Bear sculpture stolen with a truck and crane in Brunswick
- AustraliaSir Joseph Banks memorial sculpture stolen from Canberra gardens
- AustriaPolice investigate disappearance of more than 200 Mozart figures in Salzburg
- AustriaErnst Fuchs Museum increases reward for stolen painting
- AustriaErnst Fuchs’s Daphne bronze missing from Vienna exhibition
- AustriaPierre-Auguste Renoir painting stolen from Vienna’s Dorotheum auction house
- BelgiumRenaissance Madonna stolen from a church in Zele
- BelgiumEnsor, Van Dongen and other works stolen from Van Buuren Museum
- BrazilMatisse and Portinari works stolen from library
- BrazilDalí, Matisse, Monet and Picasso works stolen from Rio museum
- CanadaTimothy Schmalz’s bronze figure of Jesus stolen from Surrey school
- CanadaBronze sculpture valued at about C$175,000 stolen in central Waterloo
- CanadaSecwépemc landmark sculpture stolen from Tappen Bluffs
- CanadaThree Maud Lewis painted Christmas cards reported stolen in Halifax
- CanadaBronze statue of St. Teresa of Avila stolen from Ancaster cemetery
- CanadaRichard Forbes bronze horse head stolen from Vancouver gallery
- CanadaJellyfish sculpture stolen from Calgary’s Beakerhead festival
- CanadaJohn Greer’s bronze Feather stolen from Guelph sculpture park
- CanadaSuzor-Coté oil painting stolen from Halifax gallery
- CanadaGolden egg stolen from Salvador Dalí’s Space Venus
- CanadaA.Y. Jackson landscape stolen from Toronto home
- CanadaBanksy’s Trolley Hunters stolen from Toronto exhibition
- CyprusFilippos Giapanis’s Balance stolen from Cyprus sculpture park
- CyprusBronze sparrow stolen again from Yiota Ioannidou’s Paphos sculpture
- EgyptVan Gogh’s Poppy Flowers stolen in Egypt
- FranceSalvador Dalí bronze book cover stolen
- FranceLouvre jewels added to INTERPOL stolen art database
- FranceThe theft of five masterpieces from the Musée d’Art moderne de Paris
- FranceFernando Botero's Maternity stolen from a Paris gallery
- FranceChinese and Thai artworks stolen from Fontainebleau palace
- FranceA red Picasso sketchbook disappears from the Paris museum
- FrancePicasso paintings stolen from granddaughter’s home
- GermanyLife-size bronze of a seated woman stolen from an Essen cemetery
- GermanyWooden wild boar sculpture stolen from Werl playground
- GermanyHans Arp bronze reported stolen at Art Cologne
- GermanyPolice seek Ernst Sauer’s stolen bronze Der Liegende
- GermanyLife-size bronze woman stolen from a Duisburg family grave
- GermanyPolice seek untitled Elfi Frauendorf work stolen in Berlin
- GermanyPainting of golfers stolen in Berlin burglary
- GermanyIris Ulbricht’s Murmel stolen from Berlin exhibition
- GermanyBronze Pine figure reported stolen in Pirna
- GermanyOil painting stolen from an office in Berlin-Steglitz
- GermanyTwo de Belsunce portraits stolen in Berlin
- GermanyBronze angel sculpture stolen from Rostock cemetery
- GermanyLunita July Dorn painting stolen during Berlin opening
- GermanyRuthild Hahne bronze head stolen in Berlin
- GermanySeven Jean-Noel Schramm watercolours stolen from Berlin hospital
- GermanyNine Itamar Zion Yehiel embroideries stolen in Berlin
- GermanyOil painting of a monk with a jug stolen in Berlin
- GermanyHeinrich Martens bronze girl stolen from Monheim civic centre
- GermanyNeureuther’s 1827 view of Munich stolen from storage
- GermanyCharles Fazzino porcelain apple stolen from a Hamburg gallery
- GermanyErik van Lieshout and Andy Hope 1930 paintings stolen in Berlin
- GermanyBalthasar Lobo’s Mutter mit Kind stolen in Berlin foundry burglary
- GermanyRoland Lindner bronze heron stolen from a Berlin-Frohnau garden
- GermanyTwo Dave the Chimp drawings stolen from Berlin exhibition
- GermanyFrau am Fluss bronze stolen from Duisburg’s Goerdeler Park
- GermanySix sculptures stolen from Bochum’s Stadtpark
- GermanyReinhold Böltzig’s Reifenwerferin stolen from former embassy grounds
- GermanyElena Panknin bronze sculpture stolen during Berlin exhibition opening
- GermanyHeavy bronze seal sculpture stolen from Wilhelmshaven storage yard
- GermanyRichie Culver’s Contemplation stolen from a Berlin auction house
- GermanyLore Plietzsch’s flute-playing children bronze stolen in Berlin
- GermanyPaul van Hoeydonck’s Man in Space stolen from Berlin gallery
- GermanyWilliam N. Copley work stolen from Berlin-Mitte gallery
- GermanyTwo Bruno Bielefeld paintings sought after Berlin residential theft
- GermanyGhada Amer ceramic sculpture taken from a Berlin gallery
- GermanyPolice seek witnesses after Dresden’s Green Vault jewel theft
- GermanyReward campaign seeks Lucian Freud’s stolen Francis Bacon portrait
- Israel27 artworks stolen from the Wilfrid Israel Museum
- IsraelRodin bronze stolen from the Israel Museum
- ItalyFour Renaissance artworks stolen from museum in Messina
- ItalyRenoir, Cézanne and Matisse paintings stolen from private museum
- ItalyThieves take a decoy after police safeguard a Brueghel Crucifixion
- JapanTwo bronze statues stolen from a Tokyo public park
- NetherlandsTwo Andy Warhol prints stolen from gallery
- NetherlandsFrans Hals’s Two Laughing Boys stolen again
- NetherlandsVan Gogh painting stolen from Singer Laren
- NetherlandsSeven works stolen from Kunsthal Rotterdam
- New ZealandKarin de Beer's Tiori Toru stolen from Whangārei's Hundertwasser Art Centre
- New ZealandPrivate reward offered after Harawene dog sculpture theft
- New ZealandTwo Gottfried Lindauer portraits stolen in Auckland gallery ram raid
- South AfricaReward advertised for paintings stolen in Pretoria hijacking
- SwedenDalí sculptures and etchings stolen in Stockholm gallery raid
- SwedenRoyal funeral crowns and orb stolen from Strängnäs Cathedral
- SwitzerlandUp to €1 million advertised for paintings stolen in Valais
- SwitzerlandInsurers consider reward for stolen Lausanne-Vidy museum coins
- United KingdomLipton Cup still missing; arrested man released without charge
- United KingdomCourt summons issued after hedgehog statue theft
- United KingdomClare Haggas’s Making Amends stolen at Cheltenham Festival
- United KingdomBronze deer stolen from outside a Lyndhurst property
- United KingdomTeddy Baldock bronze statue stolen from Langdon Park
- United KingdomMore than 600 objects stolen from Bristol Museums storage
- United KingdomNelson Mandela print stolen from Liverpool’s St George’s Hall
- United KingdomBronze Dalmatian sculpture stolen in Sudbury
- United KingdomAnne Curry bronze sculpture stolen from her garden
- United KingdomDorset Police seek paintings stolen from Lyme Regis art studio
- United KingdomHenry the bronze stag stolen from Alison Cork’s London home
- United KingdomLeaping-woman statue stolen from The Grove Hotel grounds
- United KingdomJapanese bronze hawk incense burner stolen from Alton auction house
- United KingdomSarah Księska’s Präparat stolen during London Frieze week
- United KingdomGrayson Perry’s Alien Baby stolen from Bristol’s Hidden Gallery
- United KingdomTwenty lead statues stolen from a Moreton-in-Marsh estate
- United KingdomBronze lion stolen from Born Free outdoor exhibition in Bristol
- United KingdomChrist Church theft: Van Dyck, Carracci and Rosa
- United KingdomTwo Polly Rome bronze sculptures stolen from a Rockbourne home
- United KingdomMaurizio Cattelan’s gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace
- United KingdomBronze hare statues stolen from a Goodworth Clatford garden
- United KingdomHenry Moore bronze stolen from Glenkiln Sculpture Park
- United KingdomReward advertised after Barbara Hepworth sculpture theft
- United KingdomOver 100 gold boxes and precious objects stolen from Waddesdon Manor
- United StatesPortland police seek stolen miniature horse figurines after arrest
- United StatesKwan Wu’s bronze figure of an Osage woman stolen in Kansas City
- United StatesJeffrey Laudenslager offers reward after kinetic sculpture theft
- United StatesSix paintings stolen in Dallas during transport
- United StatesSalvador Dalí etching stolen from San Francisco gallery
- United StatesThree Kieron Williamson paintings stolen in Arizona
- United StatesVivienne Scholl photograph stolen from Madrone Art Bar
- United StatesChez Tortoni and the works stolen from the Gardner Museum
- United StatesAnn Pibal’s CBLT taken from New York’s Team Gallery
- United StatesGinny: reward advertised for sculpture stolen in 1980
- United StatesSam Tufnell’s Electric Blueberry gnome stolen from Florida museum
- United StatesSeven Andy Warhol Campbell’s Soup I prints stolen from Springfield Art Museum
- United StatesReward doubled for Mother and Child sculpture stolen in Eau Claire
- United StatesFBI appeals for Renoir stolen in Houston armed robbery
- United StatesEleven Warhol portraits stolen from a Los Angeles home
The stories behind the art
Explore all stories Stolen. Sought. Found.
2004Oslo, Norway · Recovered in 2006
Daylight, guns and another Scream
This time there was no ladder and no taunting postcard. Armed men entered an open museum while visitors were inside.
Read the story 3 min
2005Perry Green, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom · Missing; police believed it destroyed
Two tonnes vanished. The metal was the danger.
The bronze seemed too heavy to steal. A crane made its weight manageable, and its artistic value may not have mattered to the thieves.
Read the story 3 min
2000Stockholm, Sweden → Copenhagen, Denmark · Recovered and returned
A speedboat, a hotel room and a very small Rembrandt
An armed robbery emptied three spaces in Stockholm. The return took years, several countries and an undercover operation.
Read the story 3 min
HISTORICAL EDITION · 1933–1945
Art, loss & memory
02 HISTORICAL DOSSIERS
Looting & Restitution
Dispossession, long battles and the paths to restitution.
Explore the casesThe upper strip shows details of the featured artworks; the lower strip uses World War II archive photographs as historical context.
Art Wanted · Rewards
87 entries · 88 documented offers · terms apply
Newest additions first · up to ten entries in each group.
Officially advertised offers 59
Official sources checked; terms apply.
Jan Brueghel the Elder · A Garland of Flowers Surrounding a Picture of FloraUp to$15,000Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Jan Brueghel the Elder · Still Life with FlowersUp to$7,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Canaletto · The Riva degli Schiavoni in VeniceUp to$7,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Caravaggio · Portrait of a Young Woman (Fillide Melandroni)Up to$20,000Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Annibale Carracci · Self-PortraitUp to$2,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Cima da Conegliano · Virgin and ChildUp to$2,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Lovis Corinth · Tyrolean with CatUp to$2,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Gustave Courbet · The WaveUp to$15,000Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Lucas Cranach the Elder · Saint GeorgeUp to$7,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Aelbert Cuyp · Spring Landscape with PoolUp to$2,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
10 of 59 entries · see the full list for the rest.
Published offers · current validity unconfirmed 18
Amounts reported by the cited sources, without confirmation that the offers remain valid.
Heinrich Martens’s bronze girl with a ballUp to€5,000Validity unconfirmed
LeRoy Neiman — Oscar de la Hoya – Shane MosleyAdvertised reward$5,000Centaur Art GalleriesValidity unconfirmed
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts — 1972 theftAdvertised rewardAmount not publishedInsurers, according to Radio Canada InternationalValidity unconfirmed
Giapanis · BalanceAdvertised reward€5,000Validity unconfirmed
Zegna · Gold sheep trophyAdvertised rewardA$15,000Validity unconfirmed
Valais · Chalet theftUp to€1,000,000Validity unconfirmed
Lausanne · Gold coinsUp to€200,000Validity unconfirmed
Ernst Fuchs · ViennaAdvertised reward€30,000Validity unconfirmed
Harawene · RotoruaAdvertised rewardNZ$5,000Validity unconfirmed
Henry · LondonAdvertised reward£1,000Validity unconfirmed
10 of 18 entries · see the full list for the rest.
Archive · recovered works or documented outcomes 10
Historical reward offers; reported returns, recoveries or destruction.
Llew Summers · FlightAdvertised rewardNZ$4,000Archive · see outcome
Amelia Earhart · ReturnedAdvertised rewardCA$25,000Archive · see outcome
Titian · RecoveredAdvertised reward£100,000Archive · see outcome
Picasso · RecoveredAdvertised rewardA$50,000Archive · see outcome
Unkrey · The HammerAdvertised reward$1,000Archive · see outcome
Van Gogh · Two paintingsAdvertised reward€100,000Archive · see outcome
Bührle · RecoveredAdvertised rewardCHF 100,000Archive · see outcome
Goya · Children with a CartUp to$50,000Archive · see outcome
Munch · Two paintingsUp toNOK 2,000,000Archive · see outcome
Cellini · SalieraAdvertised reward€70,000Archive · see outcome
ArtistsAll artists125
295–315 of 764 reports
Lower Austria, Austria / Germany / Romania
Police recover nine Hermann Nitsch works in a cross-border investigation
Austrian police announced the recovery of nine works by Hermann Nitsch. Two had been seized in Vienna in 2021 and seven were located during searches in Germany and Romania in November 2022. Investigators said three other paintings were still missing when they announced the results. Photo of recovered work: Lower Austrian police via ORF.
Berlin, Germany
Two Dave the Chimp drawings stolen from Berlin exhibition
Two framed drawings on paper by Dave the Chimp were stolen from Friendly Capitalism Lounge between 30 and 31 December 2022. Human Bean No. 129 and No. 151 belonged to a series of eight works. Image: Berlin Police.
Siena, Italy
Fifteenth-century Madonna returned to Siena cathedral museum
Carabinieri returned a Madonna and Child attributed to Lippo d’Andrea to the cathedral museum, where it had been stolen in 1968. Investigators matched auction photographs with the stolen-art database. ANSA reported that the picture had reappeared at a Swiss auction in 1999. Image: ANSA.
Madrid, Spain
Madrid court sentences collector over 15 forgeries offered at auction
A Madrid court sentenced a collector to four years in prison for trying to sell 15 fakes through Setdart, including works attributed to Edvard Munch and Roy Lichtenstein. The photograph shows Lichtenstein’s original Whaam! at Tate Modern.
Three Littmann collection paintings restituted by Neue Nationalgalerie — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
Berlin, Germany
Three Littmann collection paintings restituted by Neue Nationalgalerie
The museum restituted paintings by Max Pechstein, Wilhelm Schmid and Carlo Mense to Ismar Littmann’s heirs. The heirs donated Mense’s Double Portrait back to the collection, where its history is explained.
Frau am Fluss before its theft from Goerdeler Park; police appeal photograph. Image source ↗
Duisburg, Germany
Frau am Fluss bronze stolen from Duisburg’s Goerdeler Park
Police reported that the approximately 1.2-metre bronze Frau am Fluss disappeared from Goerdeler Park between 27 and 30 January 2023. The city and Lehmbruck Museum confirmed it had not been removed for conservation. Investigators appealed for witnesses and information on its whereabouts. No recovery or arrest was announced in this release. Photo: Polizei Duisburg.
Paris, France
Paris court orders Christie’s to return a looted Van der Werff painting
Christie’s sold Adriaen van der Werff’s The Penitent Magdalene in London in 2005. The painting appears in the French register of looted goods as part of Lionel Hauser’s collection, seized in Paris in 1942. On January 27, 2023, a Paris court ordered the auction house to return the panel to Hauser’s descendants.
Bochum, Germany
Six sculptures stolen from Bochum’s Stadtpark
Bochum announced a €2,500 reward for information leading to recovery of the six sculptures or the apprehension of the perpetrators. Current availability of the reward has not been confirmed. Archival photo of the fountain’s fish sculptures: City of Bochum.
Pontevedra, Spain / Gołuchów, Poland
Spain returns a looted diptych from the workshop of Dieric Bouts to Poland
The Museo de Pontevedra handed Mater Dolorosa and Ecce Homo over to Poland. The panels had belonged to the Czartoryski collection at Gołuchów and were listed as missing after World War II. Polish researchers identified them in the Spanish museum’s collection in 2019. The photo shows both panels.
Boulder / Lakewood, Colorado, United States
Five paintings recovered in Colorado after art transport theft
Police found five paintings, including works by Elaine de Kooning and Jane Freilicher, in a Lakewood hotel room on 6 January. They had been stolen from a vehicle in Boulder in December 2022 while in transit. Photo of two of the recovered works: Boulder Police Department via The Art Newspaper.
Reinhold Böltzig’s Reifenwerferin (Diana), pictured in the Berlin police search notice. Image source ↗
Berlin, Germany
Reinhold Böltzig’s Reifenwerferin stolen from former embassy grounds
Berlin police sought Reinhold Böltzig’s 1908 bronze Reifenwerferin (Diana), about 160 cm tall. It was stolen with other metal inventory from an unused embassy property between December 2021 and June 2022. The 3 January 2023 notice asks where it may have been offered for sale, exchange or as collateral; it announces no recovery or arrest. Photo: Polizei Berlin.
Abuja, Nigeria
Germany hands Benin bronzes back to Nigeria in Abuja
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Culture Commissioner Claudia Roth handed Benin bronzes from German collections to Nigerian officials in Abuja. British troops had seized works from the Kingdom of Benin in 1897, and many of the objects later entered European collections through the art market.
Dresden, Germany
31 objects recovered from Dresden’s Green Vault heist
A substantial portion of the artworks and jewels stolen in November 2019 was recovered in December 2022. The recovery covered part of the stolen collection.
Auckland, New Zealand
Two Lindauer portraits returned after five years
New Zealand Police confirmed the return of the Chief and Chieftainess Ngatai-Raure portraits stolen in April 2017. Investigations continued.
London, United Kingdom
Piero della Francesca’s Nativity returns to view after restoration
The National Gallery displayed the panel after a three-year conservation project. Work on the damaged surface recovered details of the shepherds and of the light on the stable wall. The gallery now interprets the sparse shadows as a deliberate feature tied to Saint Bridget’s vision of the Nativity.
Benin plaque from the Horniman collection involved in the ownership transfer. Horniman Museum and Gardens. Image source ↗
London, United Kingdom; Benin City, Nigeria
Horniman transfers ownership of 72 objects to Nigeria; first six due for handover
On 28 November 2022, the Horniman announced transfer to Nigeria of ownership of 72 objects taken from Benin City in 1897. Six were due for handover that evening; the rest would initially remain in Britain on loan. The announcement does not confirm arrival of all 72 in Nigeria.
London, United Kingdom
Two Suzi Malin paintings recovered from a stolen London archive
Metropolitan Police secured two paintings at a commercial premises on 24 November and identified them as works stolen in the 2018 Maida Vale burglary. The theft involved an archive of about 400 works by Suzi Malin. The image shows The Leather Boys, a painting reported stolen in the case, via Westminster Extra.
Paris, France
Giquello auction proceeds despite Mexico’s objections to 62 lots
Giquello & Associés proceeded with its November 22 Paris sale of pre-Columbian art. Mexican authorities identified 62 lots as archaeological monuments under Mexican law and asked the auctioneer to withdraw them. Officials also reported lodging complaints. Artnet reported sales of €314,167, below the presale estimate. Image: ceramic figures offered at the sale, courtesy of Giquello & Associés.
The Hague, Netherlands
Hague opinion backs return of a goblet holder and dish from the Budge collection
The Dutch committee ruled that The Hague should return an Andries Grill goblet holder and an unattributed ceramic dish from the Kunstmuseum Den Haag to the estate’s beneficiaries.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Return advised for Rijksmuseum’s pair of Johannes Lutma salts
The Dutch committee recommended returning two partly gilded salt cellars made by Johannes Lutma from the Rijksmuseum to the beneficiaries of Emma Budge’s estate.
New York, US / Jerusalem
New York court dismisses claim over the medieval Bird’s Head Haggadah
Heirs of Ludwig Marum sought restitution from the Israel Museum, alleging that the illustrated manuscript had been taken from their family. A New York state court dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds and found the dispute belonged in another forum. Image shows two pages of the manuscript, Google Art Project via Wikimedia Commons.
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