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.
189 reports · Page 6 / 9
Phillips sued after the winning bidder failed to pay for Morris Louis’s Para IV and Christopher Wool’s Untitled (P271) at its November 2015 sale. A New York court addressed the shortfall after resale, interest and storage fees. Photo shows the Wool painting.
Forgery offered by Philip Righter; AP / The Art Newspaper Image source ↗
Philip Righter received five years in prison after guilty pleas in fraud cases. His scheme used forged authenticity documents to market counterfeit works.
A judge awarded Sotheby’s about $2 million in its suit against dealer Anatole Shagalov. The auction house resold Keith Haring’s Untitled (1982) after the winning bidder failed to pay for the work.
Christie’s withdrew four antiquities after an archaeologist raised concerns about their provenance. One was a Roman marble hare linked to photographs in the archive of dealer Gianfranco Becchina. Photo shows the hare in that archive.
Sotheby’s withdrew the Geometric-period bronze from a 2018 New York auction after Greece questioned its provenance and sought its return. An appellate court held that Greece was protected by sovereign immunity in the resulting lawsuit.
A federal court dismissed Noland’s claims over the restoration of Log Cabin Façade in Germany. It found US copyright law did not reach the refurbishment abroad and that use of photos to market the work was fair use. Image shows another version of Log Cabin, from the Stone collection.
Pierre Louis Goudreaux, An Amorous Couple / A Loving Glance — the returned painting. Image source ↗
Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the UN confirmed on 20 February 2020 that an official handover of Pierre Louis Goudreaux’s An Amorous Couple took place in New York the previous day, attended by Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko. Looted from Kyiv’s Khanenko Museum during World War II, the painting was found in the United States. This is a restitution update to the civil forfeiture action announced in 2019.
La Girafe en Feu was taken from Dennis Rae Fine Art in October 2019. Checked against AP reporting. Recovery was not verified in this review.
A retrospective of 2019 thefts reports that three paintings by Kieron Williamson were stolen from a house in Tucson, Arizona, in July. Recovery was not established in this review.
Timothy Sammons sentenced for defrauding art clients — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
Sammons was sentenced to four to twelve years after pleading guilty to grand larceny and scheming to defraud. The case concerned misuse of clients’ artworks and sale proceeds, rather than an authenticity determination.
In Reif v Nagy the appellate court upheld the core ownership ruling for the heirs concerning Woman in a Black Pinafore and Woman Hiding Her Face. Image of Woman in a Black Pinafore: Collection Grünbaum, via Smithsonian Magazine.
One of the stolen photographs — Vivienne Scholl, courtesy of Madrone Art Bar. Image source ↗
A photograph from Vivienne Scholl’s Parked Portraits exhibition was stolen from Madrone Art Bar. The owner confirmed the theft and released security footage. As reported on 13 June 2019, there were no solid leads. This is a historical theft report, with no verified recovery.
Édouard Manet, Chez Tortoni — Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, stolen in 1990. Image source ↗
Thirteen objects, including Édouard Manet’s Chez Tortoni and works by Rembrandt and Vermeer, were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on 18 March 1990. The museum’s official theft page confirms the investigation remains active and the objects missing. Individuals’ suspected connections to the theft are not treated here as established facts.
The Vance v Lopreto decision records a 2017 guilty plea involving counterfeit Hirst prints and false provenance. The 2019 ruling addresses forfeiture of equipment used in the crimes.
Doug Unkrey, The Hammer, before the theft. Courtesy of the City of Healdsburg / Artsy. Image source ↗
Healdsburg announced the return of the metal head of Doug Unkrey’s The Hammer on 12 April 2019. The sculpture had been stolen in October 2018. Its original wooden handle remained missing; the artist planned a replacement.
The returned lion sculpture with flowers and an apology letter.
A lion sculpture was returned to the Bunn family with flowers and an apology letter. CBS’s 8 April 2019 report locates the incident in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Footage recorded the removal and return; police were still seeking those involved at publication. The images show the returned sculpture and letter.
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.
Pierre Louis Goudreaux, An Amorous Couple / A Loving Glance — the recovered painting.
On 21 March 2019, Manhattan federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture action for Pierre Louis Goudreaux’s An Amorous Couple, also called A Loving Glance and formerly A Family Portrait. The complaint alleged that it was looted from Kyiv’s Khanenko Museum around 1943 and resurfaced in a New York auction listing in 2013. This records the filing stage; the 2020 handover is documented separately.
Two people took Ann Pibal’s CBLT from the exhibition Surf Type at Team Gallery in Soho on 10 January 2019, according to Artnet News. The painting was valued at US$12,000. Image: Team Gallery/Adam Reich.
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Portrait of John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony — Christie’s. Image source ↗
Christie’s documents the return of Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Portrait of John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony to Fritz Gutmann’s heirs under an agreed settlement with its holders. Missing for nearly 80 years after Nazi persecution and the dispersal of the family collection, it was returned and auctioned in April 2018. This source was published on 11 December 2018.
The recovered limestone relief of a Persian guard from Persepolis — via The Art Newspaper. Image source ↗
The University of Chicago, whose researchers provided archival evidence for the case, confirmed that a Persepolis guard relief was returned to Iran in 2018 under a New York Supreme Court order. Stolen from Persepolis in 1936 and again from a Montreal museum in 2011, it was recovered, subsequently sold to dealers, and seized at TEFAF New York in 2017. Its official handover took place in September 2018, followed by display in Tehran.
