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

Art crime across time zones

Live clocks

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.

  1. France8,133 objects
  2. Italy7,721 objects
  3. Turkey3,034 objects
  4. Iraq2,786 objects
  5. Belgium2,336 objects
  6. Netherlands1,756 objects

Published analysis ↗Underlying data table ↗About the INTERPOL register ↗

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Thefts around the world

Art Theft Map

128 theft reports · 20 countries

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)
The stories behind the art

Stolen. Sought. Found.

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Edvard Munch, The Scream, the MUNCH painted version dated 1910? in the museum catalogue; stolen with Madonna in 2004.2004
Oslo, 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
Henry Moore, Reclining Figure (1969–70), photographed before its theft from Perry Green.2005
Perry 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
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait (1630), Nationalmuseum, Stockholm; the copper painting recovered in 2005.2000
Stockholm, 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

The upper strip shows details of the featured artworks; the lower strip uses World War II archive photographs as historical context.

ArtTraceX · The adventure starts hereJoin the art hunters — near you and around the worldThe next clue could be closer than you think.Start exploring

Art Wanted · Rewards

87 entries · 88 documented offers · terms apply

Newest additions first · up to ten entries in each group.

Rewards page →

Officially advertised offers 59

Official sources checked; terms apply.

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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.

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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.

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Art Forgery Stories

The Masterpieces That Never Were

All forgery stories

Incident archive

Last update · 13 Nov 2026
ArtistsAll artists125

Report counts across the archive. Names include attributed works and reported forgeries.

148–168 of 764 reports

The recovered George Washington portrait. Englewood Police Department / KRDO.

The recovered George Washington portrait. Englewood Police Department / KRDO. Image source ↗

Recovered
Englewood, Colorado, United States

Stolen George Washington portrait recovered in Colorado

Englewood police announced recovery of the portrait stolen from storage in January 2024. Its possessor surrendered it on 28 March 2025 after negotiations. Police reported little damage to the artwork and said it would be transferred to the insurer.

Recovered art
Lisa Schiff. Photograph: Udo Salters / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images, reproduced by The Art Newspaper.

Lisa Schiff. Photograph: Udo Salters / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images, reproduced by The Art Newspaper. Image source ↗

Court dispute
New York, United States

Art adviser Lisa Schiff sentenced to thirty months for client fraud

Lisa Schiff was sentenced to 30 months in prison for a roughly $6.5 million fraud connected to purchases and sales of about 55 artworks. Prosecutors described diversion of client money to personal and business expenses. The sentence followed her guilty plea.

Art court dispute
Art Institute of Chicago announces return of Muchalinda Buddha to Nepal — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source.

Art Institute of Chicago announces return of Muchalinda Buddha to Nepal — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗

Returned
Chicago, United States; Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Art Institute of Chicago announces return of Muchalinda Buddha to Nepal

The museum agreed to return Buddha Sheltered by the Serpent King Muchalinda after identifying its theft from Guita Bahi. The announcement concerns the restitution decision, not confirmation of physical arrival.

Art restitution
New York returns 11 Greek antiquities
Returned
New York, United States / Greece

New York returns 11 Greek antiquities

Manhattan prosecutors returned 11 antiquities to Greece, including the pictured grave relief. The objects were recovered in several investigations, including one involving London-based antiquities dealer Robin Symes. Image: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Art restitution
Three stolen Spanish artworks recovered in Italy
Recovered
Rome, Italy / Madrid and Barcelona, Spain

Three stolen Spanish artworks recovered in Italy

Spanish police received paintings by Joaquín Sorolla and Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa and a bronze by Javier Martín at their embassy in Rome. The paintings had been taken from a Madrid exhibition in 2021 and the sculpture from a Barcelona gallery in 2022. Image: Spain’s National Police, via Catalan News.

Recovered art
Long-lost Strawberry Hill miniature attributed to Lavinia Fontana
Archive report
Twickenham, United Kingdom

Long-lost Strawberry Hill miniature attributed to Lavinia Fontana

A small oil portrait on copper, missing from view after the 1842 dispersal of Horace Walpole’s collection, resurfaced and returned to Strawberry Hill House for an exhibition. Walpole believed the work was by Bronzino and depicted Bianca Capello. The house now attributes it to Lavinia Fontana and lists the sitter as unidentified.

Art archive
Three Maud Lewis painted Christmas cards reported stolen in Halifax — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source.

Three Maud Lewis painted Christmas cards reported stolen in Halifax — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗

Stolen
Halifax, Canada

Three Maud Lewis painted Christmas cards reported stolen in Halifax

Halifax police appealed over three painted Christmas cards reported stolen from a Cambridge Street residence in November 2024. The notice identifies them as Maud Lewis works; a later recovery is not established here.

Art theft
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait (1630), Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

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