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
631–651 of 764 reports
Case diagram by ArtTraceX · Goldschmidt-Rothschild claim · Annunciation · NK 124 and NK 125. Image source ↗
Netherlands
Dutch panel advises against returning two Annunciation sculptures
The committee advised rejecting a claim by the Goldschmidt-Rothschild heirs for two alabaster sculptures attributed to Tilman Riemenschneider, NK 124 and NK 125.
The recovery location beneath a bench in Port Elizabeth; IOL Image source ↗
Pretoria and Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Four of five Pretoria Art Museum paintings recovered
Works by Laubser, Naudé, Pierneef and Irma Stern were recovered. Gerard Sekoto’s Street Scene remained missing at publication.
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Seven works stolen from Kunsthal Rotterdam
Report of the 16 October 2012 burglary targeting the Triton collection exhibition. The works remained missing at publication.
New York, United States
Roy Lichtenstein’s Electric Cord returned after 42 years
US authorities announced the return of Electric Cord to Barbara Bertozzi Castelli after the painting resurfaced in New York.
Cologne, Germany
Lempertz ordered to compensate buyer for a forged Campendonk
A Cologne court ordered Lempertz to pay compensation over its sale of Red Picture with Horses, catalogued as a work by Heinrich Campendonk. The canvas was a forgery made by Wolfgang Beltracchi. Photo: the forged painting, Simon Vogel / picture alliance / dpa, via The Guardian.
Pierre Auguste Renoir, Madeleine Leaning on Her Elbow with Flowers in Her Hair. FBI. Image source ↗
Houston, Texas, United States
FBI appeals for Renoir stolen in Houston armed robbery
The FBI sought information on Madeleine Leaning on Her Elbow with Flowers in Her Hair (1918), stolen from a Houston home on 8 September 2011. The 2012 appeal cited a private insurer’s reward of up to $50,000. Its present validity has not been verified.
Context photograph: The Ninth Circuit’s Browning Courthouse, San Francisco. Blackhorsemedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Resized and cropped for display
United States
Monge: unpublished wedding photographs in a magazine
A magazine printed photographs from a private celebrity wedding without the couple’s permission. The appeals court reversed the finding of fair use, weighing the nature and extent of the publication.
Context photograph · Museum Wiesbaden, which returned the two Gennaro Greco paintings · Martin Kraft / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · resized / redimensionnée Image source ↗
Wiesbaden, Germany
Wiesbaden returns two Gennaro Greco paintings to the Tietz heirs
The Wiesbaden Museum returned two architectural paintings by Gennaro Greco to Martin Tietz’s heirs. The heirs subsequently sold the paintings back to the museum.
London, United Kingdom
High Court rules on Christie’s sale of disputed Odalisque
In Avrora Fine Arts v Christie’s the court held that the painting offered as a work by Boris Kustodiev was not authentic under the auction warranty. Image from the 2005 Christie’s catalogue, which recorded the attribution disputed in court.
The Güemes monument after restoration in 2015; City of Buenos Aires Image source ↗
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Bronze elements stolen from Güemes monument
The monument’s sword and reins were reported stolen. A scrap-metal motive was described as a hypothesis at publication.
Much Hadham, United Kingdom
Stolen Henry Moore Sundial recovered
Police recovered Moore’s bronze sundial and a bronze plinth after the objects were stolen from the Henry Moore Foundation in Hertfordshire.
The recovered Matisse at its 2014 return; The Guardian Image source ↗
Caracas, Venezuela and Miami, USA
Painting believed to be Matisse’s Odalisque in Red Pants seized in FBI operation
Two people were charged with possessing and transporting a painting believed to be Matisse’s stolen Odalisque in Red Pants. Agents said it appeared consistent with the Caracas museum original. This release records allegations at the charging stage.
Case diagram by ArtTraceX · Julius Kien collection · Flowers in a Stoneware Vase · Brueghel workshop. Image source ↗
Bavaria, Germany
Bavaria returns a Brueghel-workshop floral still life to the Kien heirs
The Bavarian State Painting Collections returned Flowers in a Stoneware Vase, from the workshop of Jan Brueghel the Elder, to the heirs of Julius Kien.
Context photograph: Court of Justice of the European Union, Luxembourg. FrDr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized and cropped for display
European Union
Donner: cross-border sales of designer furniture
Reproductions of designer furniture were marketed to German customers and delivered from Italy. The EU court held that targeted cross-border sales could amount to distribution in the destination country.
Athens, Greece
Diamantides challenges a painting sold by Sotheby’s as a Parthenis
Collector Diamantis Diamantides challenged two works acquired from Sotheby’s. A court found that the purported Constantin Parthenis Virgin and Child was a forgery and awarded compensation. Sotheby’s said it intended to appeal.
Zurich, Switzerland and Serbia
All four paintings from the Bührle robbery returned
Zurich authorities confirmed the return of works by Cézanne, Degas, Monet and Van Gogh stolen in 2008, following cooperation with Serbia.
Case diagram by ArtTraceX · Salomon van Leeuwen · Beech chest · NK 3201. Image source ↗
The Hague, Netherlands
Return advised for a beech chest from the Van Leeuwen dealership
A beech chest, NK 3201, was traced to the stock of Salomon van Leeuwen’s antiques business. The committee found the loss involuntary and recommended returning it to the business’s successor.
Context photograph: Westminster Bridge and a red bus, subjects of the disputed composition. Arpingstone · Public domain · Resized and cropped for display
United Kingdom
Temple Island: the red bus and Westminster
A tea company used a red London bus against a monochrome Westminster background on its packaging. The court found that the new image reproduced a substantial part of the photographer’s original composition.
René Magritte, Olympia, reproduced in RTVE’s report on the 2009 theft. Credit: RTVE / agencies. Image source ↗
Jette, Brussels, Belgium
Magritte’s Olympia returned after the 2009 museum robbery
René Magritte’s Olympia was returned to Belgian authorities through art expert Janpiet Callens. The painting had been taken at gunpoint from the artist’s former home in Jette on 24 September 2009. According to the report, people claiming to be the thieves approached Callens after failing to sell it. The return announcement did not report a conviction.
Louisiana, United States
Dealer sentenced in counterfeit Clementine Hunter art scheme
Federal authorities announced a sentence in a scheme that misrepresented the origin and authenticity of paintings attributed to Louisiana artist Clementine Hunter. Documentary image accompanying the case account published by the US National Park Service.
Barbara Hepworth, Two Forms (Divided Circle), pictured before the theft. Getty Images, via The Independent. Image source ↗
London, United Kingdom
Reward advertised after Barbara Hepworth sculpture theft
Londonist reported the December 2011 theft of Barbara Hepworth’s Two Forms (Divided Circle) from Dulwich Park. Southwark Council offered £1,000 for information leading to arrests. Current validity is unconfirmed.
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