THE ARCHIVE BY COUNTRY
Published reports from our archive, newest first.
A country may refer to the theft, recovery, return or legal proceedings. A case can be linked to more than one country.
73 reports · Page 3 / 4
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.
The Pinault and Arnault families announced combined pledges of €300 million after the fire. This card records the historical announcement of the pledges.
Salomon Koninck painting returned to the Schloss heirs — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
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.
On 20 May 2010, Vjeran Tomic stole Picasso’s Le Pigeon aux petits pois, Matisse’s La Pastorale, Braque’s L’Olivier près de l’Estaque, Modigliani’s La Femme à l’éventail and Léger’s Nature morte aux chandeliers from Paris’s modern art museum. The original article incorrectly says April. Corvez testified that he paid €40,000 for the Léger. Birn agreed to pay €80,000 for the Modigliani and store the others. No reliable confirmation of recovery was found in November 2026. Image shows the Modigliani. See the accompanying court report for sentences and the destruction claim.
Renoir’s Two Women in a Garden returned to Weinberger’s heir — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
The Renoir was presented to Sylvie Sulitzer, granddaughter of collector Alfred Weinberger, at a New York ceremony. It had been looted from the family’s bank vault in Paris in 1941.
Rediscovered Artemisia self-portrait acquired by London’s National Gallery — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
The National Gallery acquired Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria following its reappearance at auction. The report records rediscovery and acquisition, not theft or restitution.
French customs officers found Edgar Degas's Les Choristes (1877) in a suitcase in a bus luggage compartment on 16 February. Stolen in 2009 from the Musée Cantini in Marseille while on loan from the Musée d'Orsay, the pastel was authenticated by Orsay experts. No passenger claimed the suitcase.
Fernando Botero's bronze Maternity (2003) was stolen from Galerie Bartoux on 4 November. The 57 cm, 15 kg sculpture was valued at about €425,000. CCTV reportedly showed a man taking it during opening hours; staff discovered the loss at closing time. A police investigation was ongoing at publication, with no recovery reported.
AP reported that on 20 February 2017 Vjeran Tomic received eight years in prison, Jean-Michel Corvez seven and Yonathan Birn six. The men were jointly ordered to pay €104 million for the loss. Birn said he discarded the canvases for fear of detection. His co-defendants doubted the claim, and destruction was not established. Tomic was arrested in 2011. A November 2026 review did not verify recovery.
The Louvre brought the painting back on view after ten months of conservation at France’s museum research and restoration centre. Conservators removed yellowed varnish and earlier overpaint, making details in the saint’s hair and animal-skin garment easier to see.
EVE withdrew a sacred Acoma Pueblo shield from a May 2016 sale in Paris. US prosecutors sought forfeiture, and a federal judge authorized seizure. The US, the Pueblo and the consignor later agreed on a return in 2019. Photo shows Acoma Pueblo Governor Kurt Riley at a meeting about the sale.
A Paris court sentenced porters in a case involving artworks and other objects taken while being handled for sale at Hôtel Drouot. A tip about a missing Courbet helped prompt the police investigation. Photo shows a sales room at Drouot.
Swiss prosecutors seize disputed Modigliani after Panama Papers revelations — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
Swiss prosecutors secured a disputed Modigliani in a Geneva freeport amid a Nazi-looting ownership claim. The source reports a seizure and investigation, not a completed restitution or a final ownership ruling.
The Chinese Museum at Fontainebleau, with an inset from the investigation; El País Image source ↗
Around 15 objects were taken from the Chinese rooms, including a Tibetan mandala and imperial collection objects.
Prosecutors sought civil forfeiture of the painting stolen in France and shipped from Belgium under a false declaration. Proceedings were pending.
Hopi representatives and Survival International sought to stop the sale of sacred katsinam by Néret-Minet in April 2013. The Paris court rejected the emergency request and the sale proceeded. Related auctions faced further challenges in 2013 and 2014. Photo: Hôtel Drouot, ZeusUpsistos via Wikimedia Commons.
A Créteil court handed down prison sentences in a case involving a network that sold paintings falsely attributed to established artists. Documentary portrait of Guy Ribes: Stern.
Femme de profil, identified by Première as a drawing in the stolen Picasso album. Credit: Première / Fluctuat. Image source ↗
A notebook containing 33 pencil drawings by Pablo Picasso disappeared from the Musée Picasso in Paris during the night of 8–9 June 2009. The red, 16-by-24cm album contained drawings dated 1917–1924 and was then valued at €8 million. Le Journal des Arts reported the theft during museum renovation work; its report did not announce a recovery or identify a convicted offender.
Christie’s offered bronze rabbit and rat heads looted from Beijing’s Old Summer Palace in the nineteenth century. A French court declined to block the sale, and the winning bidder refused to pay. François-Henri Pinault returned both heads to China in 2013. Photo: the two bronzes, Xinhua via MIT Visualizing Cultures.
Claude Monet, Cliffs near Dieppe, one of the stolen paintings; The Guardian Image source ↗
Bernard Ternus pleaded guilty to a conspiracy involving stolen Monet, Sisley and Brueghel paintings taken in the August 2007 robbery.
Detail of Picasso’s Maya and the Doll, stolen in this case; The Guardian Image source ↗
Historical theft report from Paris, February 2007.
