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 ↗
Explore by country
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
694–714 of 764 reports
Context photograph: The Tenth Circuit’s Byron White Courthouse in Denver. Dtobias · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Resized and cropped for display
United States
Meshwerks: digital models of Toyota vehicles
Meshwerks made digital wireframe models intended to reproduce the appearance of Toyota vehicles faithfully. The court held that the models lacked sufficient original expression to support the asserted copyrights.
Context photograph: Court of Justice of the European Union, Luxembourg. FrDr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized and cropped for display
European Union
Peek & Cloppenburg: displaying reproduction furniture
A retailer placed reproductions of protected furniture in its sales areas and windows. The EU court held that use or display without a transfer of ownership fell outside distribution under the provision at issue.
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Auction sues over four drawings attributed to Lee Jung-seob
Seoul Auction sued the artist’s son over four drawings sold in 2005 under Lee Jung-seob’s name. The Korea JoongAng Daily reported that a court had found that he sold the works knowing they were fake. Image: Seoul Auction’s headquarters, published by the auction house.
New York, United States
Christie’s contests a lawsuit over a disputed Basquiat
The Tony Shafrazi Gallery and collector Guido Orsi sued over the 1990 auction of Untitled (1982), attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat. The artist’s estate authentication committee later rejected the attribution. Christie’s disputed liability and argued the claims fell outside the terms and timing of its warranty. Image: Christie’s New York saleroom, via Wikimedia Commons.
New York, United States
Collector challenges Sotheby’s assessment of a purported Renoir pastel
Collector Robert Kitchen argued that an image Sotheby’s classified as a print was a pastel study by Pierre-Auguste Renoir for The Bathers. The New York court dismissed his claim and declined to set that decision aside. Image: Renoir’s completed The Great Bathers, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Photo: Jaime Ardiles-Arce. Public domain. Image source ↗
New York, United States; Italy
The Met returns the Euphronios krater to Italy
The Metropolitan Museum of Art returned the Euphronios krater to Italy in January 2008 under a negotiated agreement. Italy lent other ancient vases to the museum as part of the arrangement.
Police guard the recovered Picasso and Portinari paintings. Photograph from the contemporary report. Image source ↗
São Paulo, Brazil
Stolen Picasso and Portinari paintings returned to MASP
Paintings by Pablo Picasso and Cândido Portinari stolen in December 2007 were recovered and returned to MASP. This report records the January 2008 recovery and return; later convictions are covered separately on the site.
Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Girl from the Sabine Mountains. Max Stern Art Restitution Project. Image source ↗
Rhode Island, United States
US court rules for Stern estate in Winterhalter restitution case
Concordia reported a federal judge’s December 2007 ruling treating the Nazi-era sale of Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s Girl from the Sabine Mountains as a forced sale. The January 2008 report records the decision in favour of Max Stern’s estate.
Landscape now attributed to François van Knibbergen; the 2007 release used Jan de Vos I. Image source ↗
London, United Kingdom
Dutch landscape returned to Max Stern’s estate with Christie’s assistance
Concordia announced the restitution of a landscape sold under Nazi persecution, with assistance from Christie’s. The 2007 release attributed it to Jan de Vos I; the Stern project’s current recovered-works catalogue attributes it to François van Knibbergen.
Context photograph: The Ninth Circuit’s Browning Courthouse, San Francisco. Blackhorsemedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Resized and cropped for display
United States
Perfect 10: thumbnails in an image search engine
An image publisher challenged the display of thumbnails and access to full-size images through search results. At the preliminary-injunction stage, the appeals court found the thumbnails likely protected by fair use and distinguished linked full-size images.
The fake Amarna Princess. Photograph: Geni / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Resized, uncropped. Image source ↗
Bolton, United Kingdom
Shaun Greenhalgh jailed in family art-forgery scheme
Shaun Greenhalgh received four years and eight months in prison, while his mother received a suspended sentence. The forgeries included the Amarna Princess sold to Bolton Museum. His father’s sentencing was deferred for a medical report at publication.
Buccleuch Madonna of the Yarnwinder. Courtesy of the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust / National Galleries of Scotland. Image source ↗
Scotland, United Kingdom
Buccleuch Madonna of the Yarnwinder recovered after four years
The Buccleuch Madonna of the Yarnwinder was recovered on 4 October 2007 after its 2003 theft from Drumlanrig Castle. The work is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci; the extent of his execution has been debated by scholars.
Context photograph: The Sixth Circuit’s Potter Stewart Courthouse in Cincinnati. Warren LeMay · CC0 1.0 · Resized and cropped for display
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United States
Tiseo Architects: alleged copying of site plans
One architecture practice claimed that a rival copied a design and site drawings for a pool-supply business. The appeals court affirmed the finding of no infringement after comparison of the plans.
Detail of Picasso’s Maya and the Doll, stolen in this case; The Guardian Image source ↗
Paris, France
Picasso paintings stolen from granddaughter’s home
Historical theft report from Paris, February 2007.
Nicolas Neufchatel, Portrait of Jan van Eversdyck. Max Stern Art Restitution Project. Image source ↗
Mallorca, Spain; Montreal, Canada
Nicolas Neufchatel portrait restituted to Max Stern’s estate
Concordia announced the restitution of Portrait of Jan van Eversdyck to Max Stern’s estate. The painting had been sold under Nazi duress in 1937. Mallorca’s Jakober Foundation cooperated with its return and was to receive it on permanent loan.
London, United Kingdom
Iran challenges a Christie’s sale of an Achaemenid relief
Iran obtained an injunction in 2005 to stop Christie’s from selling a limestone relief it said had been unlawfully removed from the country. The High Court dismissed Iran’s restitution claim in February 2007. The relief was auctioned in London that October.
Laren, Netherlands
Rodin’s The Thinker recovered damaged after Singer Laren theft
Police recovered a severely damaged bronze cast of The Thinker, one of seven sculptures taken from the Singer Laren sculpture garden. Context image from the University of Amsterdam’s research on the restoration and Rodin’s casts.
San Juan Tepemasalco, Mexico / San Diego, United States
Stolen colonial painting returned to Mexico from San Diego
Mexico’s INAH received an eighteenth-century painting depicting Adam and Eve expelled from Eden. The work had been stolen in 2000 from a church in Hidalgo and acquired by the San Diego Museum of Art. Photo of the returned painting: INAH, via La Jornada.
Francisco Goya, Children with a Cart; Toledo Museum of Art / Wikimedia Commons, public domain Image source ↗
United States
Goya’s Children with a Cart recovered
The museums confirmed recovery after theft in transit to an exhibition. The FBI reported no apparent damage.
Context photograph: Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, New York. Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized and cropped for display
United States
Blanch v. Koons: a fashion photograph in a collage
Koons adapted part of Andrea Blanch’s fashion photograph for his painting Niagara. The court held that the use was fair, emphasizing the different purpose of the borrowed material in the painting.
Edvard Munch, The Scream (1910?). Photo © Munchmuseet. The museum’s painted version, recovered after the 2004 theft. Image source ↗
Oslo, Norway
Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Madonna recovered in Norway
Norwegian police announced recovery of Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Madonna on 31 August 2006, two years after their theft from Oslo’s Munch Museum. ABC published the report on 1 September in Australian local time; condition assessments and the investigation continued.
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The week’s key developments in art theft, forgery, recovery, restitution and the courts. Every Monday.
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