March 2015 marked the 25-year anniversary of the biggest art theft in US history.
In 1990, two thieves disguised as police officers stole 13 paintings, worth half a billion dollars
from a Boston museum.
And art heists are still happening today.
In fact, as many as 100,000 works of art are stolen every year.
So, what’s the deal with art-napping?
Well, art theft is an especially lucrative criminal enterprise.
The US Department of Justice has called it the third most profitable illegal industry
in the past 40 years, after drugs and guns.
The FBI estimates that between 4 and 6 billion dollars worth of art is sold every year, but
there’s really no way to be sure, as investigators rarely have a paper trail to follow.
In fact, art theft is so successful, that only about one percent of all stolen artwork
is ever recovered.
This is partially due to the fact that art crime is generally nonviolent, and losses
are often paid for by insurance.
As result, police don’t allocate significant resources to make sure the art is recovered.
So why is art theft so rampant?
Well, first of all, it’s pretty easy.
Not only are paintings extremely valuable, they’re also light and easy to transport.
Additionally, many museums have lax security.
In the 1990 Boston case, the fake police officers simply walked in and cuffed the two security
guards on duty, then took their time stealing the paintings.
The biggest hurdle for art thieves isn’t acquiring the art, but getting rid of it afterwards.
Obviously, well known works of art are…
well, known.
Not only is it hard to find a buyer who won’t turn you in, but once purchased, the painting
can’t really be prominently displayed.
And, in that case, what’s the point?
Another form of art theft is less “stealing” and more like “pillaging”.
During war, sometimes countries would raid local museums and steal or destroy historical
art.
In the 30s, the Nazis systematically looted all the art they could get their hands on.
Following the war, thousands of works of art stolen by the Nazis were recovered and repatriated
to their original homes and museums.
Although plenty are still out there.
But maybe the popularity of art crime can be traced to how it’s represented in the
media.
In movies like the Thomas Crowne Affair and Ocean’s Twelve, the theft is considered
a “gentleman’s crime”, or as a cool, elaborate, white collar heist.
But the reality is that stealing art is still stealing, and in the immortal words of Indiana
Jones, “It belongs in a museum!”
If your hunger for hidden treasure is strong, you’ll definitely want to check out this
video from Seeker about one of the worlds greatest treasure hunters, and how he lost
his mind.
There’s a link in the description to that full video.
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