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.
15 reports
Spain’s culture ministry denied an export licence for a painting of the Eucharistic miracle of Saint Paschal Baylon, saying it might be an unknown Goya. The Prado confirmed plans to include the painting in a 2028 exhibition and said further study could confirm or revise the attribution.
The US Supreme Court vacated the previous judgment and remanded the case for further consideration in light of California legislation.
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.
Spanish police said French customs intercepted the purported Portrait of Giacomo Trivultio while it was being transported to Milan. The expired export permit listed a value of €1.3 million. A technical examination at the Prado ruled out Leonardo’s authorship and dated the imitation to probably the early 20th century. Photo shows the disputed portrait, Policía Nacional via Artnet.
Regional police seized three works offered as Picassos. According to the report, Picasso’s estate rejected the attributions. The seizure was an investigative step.
The painting was one of five Bacon works stolen from a Madrid home in 2015.
A joint police operation seized 22 works offered online or at auction and attributed to Dalí, Saura, Miró and Benlliure. Police identified them as counterfeit.
Reuters reported that the works were presented as part of Banksy’s Dismaland project. The report concerns a police investigation.
A Madrid court sentenced a collector to four years in prison for trying to sell 15 fakes through Setdart, including works attributed to Edvard Munch and Roy Lichtenstein. The photograph shows Lichtenstein’s original Whaam! at Tate Modern.
The Museo de Pontevedra handed Mater Dolorosa and Ecce Homo over to Poland. The panels had belonged to the Czartoryski collection at Gołuchów and were listed as missing after World War II. Polish researchers identified them in the Spanish museum’s collection in 2019. The photo shows both panels.
Spanish police seize three purported Velázquez and Titian paintings — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
Valencian police seized two works offered as Velázquez paintings and an Ecce Homo attributed to Titian. The reported asking prices totalled €45 million; that figure was not a verified market value.
Police in Valencia seized 27 paintings offered online for a combined €1.2 million. Investigators identified 18 as forgeries in an operation involving works falsely attributed to Francisco de Goya and other artists.
University researchers in Spain proposed attributing a privately owned painting of Christ carrying the cross to El Greco. A specialist in the artist’s work questioned the proposed attribution.
The Museo del Prado completed a two-year restoration of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Triumph of Death. The painting subsequently travelled to Vienna for an exhibition marking the artist’s anniversary.
Nicolas Neufchatel, Portrait of Jan van Eversdyck. Max Stern Art Restitution Project. Image source ↗
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.
