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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Choose a pin to see the story and artwork.
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
463–483 of 764 reports
Pau, France
Preaching of Saint Vincent Ferrier rediscovered in a private collection
Preaching of Saint Vincent Ferrier, an early-sixteenth-century painting attributed to Nicolas Cordonnier, was identified in a private collection in Pau. A June 2019 auction preview described its rediscovery. This is not a theft report.
Düsseldorf, Germany
Max Stern heirs compensated over two paintings retained by buyers
Concordia reported settlements over paintings by Otto Heichert and Martinus Schouman. The buyers retained both works, and Max Stern’s heirs received full compensation.
One of the stolen photographs — Vivienne Scholl, courtesy of Madrone Art Bar. Image source ↗
San Francisco, United States
Vivienne Scholl photograph stolen from Madrone Art Bar
A photograph from Vivienne Scholl’s Parked Portraits exhibition was stolen from Madrone Art Bar. The owner confirmed the theft and released security footage. As reported on 13 June 2019, there were no solid leads. This is a historical theft report, with no verified recovery.
Context image: Frederick Goodall, Goatherd and Labourer near the Pyramids at Giza — not the stolen 1892 painting.
Dublin and Cork, Ireland
Appeal dismissed in stolen Frederick Goodall painting case
On 31 May 2019, the Court of Appeal dismissed Andrew Shannon’s challenge to his conviction for handling an 1892 Frederick Goodall desert painting, stolen from Bantry House in 2006 and found in his home in 2014. He had received a two-year sentence in November 2018. The image shows Goatherd and Labourer near the Pyramids at Giza: a contextual work by the same artist, not the stolen canvas.
Édouard Manet, Chez Tortoni — Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, stolen in 1990. Image source ↗
Boston, United States
Chez Tortoni and the works stolen from the Gardner Museum
Thirteen objects, including Édouard Manet’s Chez Tortoni and works by Rembrandt and Vermeer, were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on 18 March 1990. The museum’s official theft page confirms the investigation remains active and the objects missing. Individuals’ suspected connections to the theft are not treated here as established facts.
New York, United States
Equipment forfeiture ruling in Damien Hirst counterfeit case
The Vance v Lopreto decision records a 2017 guilty plea involving counterfeit Hirst prints and false provenance. The 2019 ruling addresses forfeiture of equipment used in the crimes.
Dresden, Germany
Conservators uncover a hidden Cupid in a Vermeer in Dresden
Laboratory analysis of Vermeer’s Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window showed that the Cupid in the background had been painted over after the artist’s death. Dresden conservators began removing the later paint to reveal the figure.
Euphronios krater, returned to Italy in 2008 — official Quirinale exhibition catalogue. Image source ↗
Rome, Italy
Recovered Carabinieri artworks exhibited at the Quirinale
Italy’s presidency announced the opening of L’arte di salvare l’arte on 3 May 2019, marking 50 years of the Carabinieri cultural heritage unit. The exhibition presented works recovered or restituted over earlier decades, including paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and Piero della Francesca and antiquities. This is an exhibition report, not a new theft or a claim that all items were recovered on that date.
Context photograph: The Fourth Circuit’s courthouse in Richmond, Virginia. Smash the Iron Cage · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized and cropped for display
United States
Brammer: a photograph on a festival website
A film festival website used Russell Brammer’s photograph of a Washington neighborhood to illustrate a guide. The appeals court reversed the fair-use ruling, finding that the use served a conventional illustrative purpose.
Paul Signac, Port de la Rochelle, 1915 — the recovered painting. Image source ↗
Nancy, France / Kyiv, Ukraine
Paul Signac painting stolen in Nancy recovered in Ukraine
Paul Signac’s Port de la Rochelle (1915), stolen from Nancy’s fine arts museum in 2018, was recovered by Ukrainian police during a search in a murder investigation. The 24 April 2019 report describes recovery and arrangements for return to France, rather than a completed return to museum display.
Paris, France
Paris appeal court sentences dealers over counterfeit Rodin bronzes
A Paris appeals court found art dealers Gary Snell and Robert Crouzet guilty in a case involving unauthorized bronze copies of Auguste Rodin’s sculptures. Snell received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a €15,000 fine. The image shows The Thinker at the Musée Rodin.
Both recovered Van Gogh paintings in the conservation studio, April 2019 — Martin Bailey / The Art Newspaper. Image source ↗
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Two stolen Vincent van Gogh paintings return to display after conservation
Vincent van Gogh’s View of the Sea at Scheveningen and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen returned to display on 17 April 2019. Stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002, they were recovered in Italy in 2016. The 18 April report details conservation, including reconstruction of a damaged corner of the seascape.
Scansano and Varazze, Italy / Canada and United Kingdom
Italy recovers stolen Della Robbia relief and medieval predella
A Madonna and Child relief by Luca and Andrea della Robbia, stolen from a Scansano church in 1971, was traced to a collector in Canada. A predella attributed to Manfredino da Pistoia, stolen in Varazze in 1988, was recovered in London. Both returned to Italy and were presented on 17 April. The photograph, published by Eccoci Toscana, shows the relief.
Paris, France
Donation pledges for the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral
The Pinault and Arnault families announced combined pledges of €300 million after the fire. This card records the historical announcement of the pledges.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam restitution opinion concerns Liebermann’s Jewish Quarter
The Dutch committee issued a binding opinion advising the city of Amsterdam to return Max Liebermann’s drawing Jewish Quarter in Amsterdam to the applicants. Image: Amsterdam City Archives.
Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Sumptuous Still Life, NK 2711, one of the two works returned · RCE / Wikimedia Commons Image source ↗
Netherlands
Two Old Masters returned to the heirs of Jacob Lierens
The committee backed return of a banquet scene by Hals and Van Delen and a still life by De Heem. The heirs’ representative documents that both paintings were returned.
Doug Unkrey, The Hammer, before the theft. Courtesy of the City of Healdsburg / Artsy. Image source ↗
Healdsburg, California, United States
The Hammer’s head recovered in California; handle still missing
Healdsburg announced the return of the metal head of Doug Unkrey’s The Hammer on 12 April 2019. The sculpture had been stolen in October 2018. Its original wooden handle remained missing; the artist planned a replacement.
The returned lion sculpture with flowers and an apology letter.
West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
Stolen lion sculpture returned with flowers and an apology
A lion sculpture was returned to the Bunn family with flowers and an apology letter. CBS’s 8 April 2019 report locates the incident in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Footage recorded the removal and return; police were still seeking those involved at publication. The images show the returned sculpture and letter.
Salomon Koninck painting returned to the Schloss heirs — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
New York, United States; Paris, France
Salomon Koninck painting returned to the Schloss heirs
A Scholar Sharpening His Quill was returned after a civil forfeiture judgment. Looted from the Schloss family during the Nazi era, it resurfaced when a Chilean collector consigned it for sale in New York.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Picasso’s Dora Maar portrait recovered after yacht theft
Buste de Femme, painted in 1938 and stolen from a French Riviera yacht about twenty years earlier, was handed to Arthur Brand in the Netherlands. At publication it was held by an insurer.
Pierre Louis Goudreaux, An Amorous Couple / A Loving Glance — the recovered painting.
New York, United States / Kyiv, Ukraine
Civil forfeiture action seeks return of Goudreaux painting looted from Ukraine
On 21 March 2019, Manhattan federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture action for Pierre Louis Goudreaux’s An Amorous Couple, also called A Loving Glance and formerly A Family Portrait. The complaint alleged that it was looted from Kyiv’s Khanenko Museum around 1943 and resurfaced in a New York auction listing in 2013. This records the filing stage; the 2020 handover is documented separately.
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