Leaving no frame unturned, Constable Steve Wilson searches the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne after Picasso's The Weeping Woman was abruptly stolen in 1986.
Through 75 tales of mystery, scandal and misadventure, The Atlas of Art Crime traces the modern history of art crime around the world.
Whether it is a dramatic and cinematic heist, a cheeky but self-destructing forger or a social issue-inspired vandal, the art crime stories in this book will captivate and intrigue. Divided into three categories – theft, vandalism, and forgery – and organized geographically, each story reveals a range of motivations for art crime: greed, validation, revenge, power and fame, but also, somewhat surprisingly, love, equity and idealism.
With examples of art spanning from ancient history to the contemporary, The Atlas of Art Crime features images of masterpieces from around the world, the criminals who defiled them, the heroes who investigated the crimes and recovered or restored the works and, in many cases, snapshots from the crime itself.
Filled with intrigue, controversies and power dynamics, this is a captivating exploration of the darker side of the art world.
Book Details:
Hardcover | 224 pages
Published by Prestel,
a distributed publisher of
Penguin Random House
ISBN 9783791377124
Thefts, Vandalism, FORGERY
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In 1974, Tony Shafrazi spray-painted Picasso's iconic Guernica with the phrase, "KILL LIES ALL" in bright red. Here, conservators at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC erase the vandal's words. To read more, go to page 163 of The Atlas of Art Crime.
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Han van Meegeren, the Dutch forger of Vermeer, is shown here painting Jesus Among the Doctors at his trial in 1945. To find out what led Van Meegeren to a life of forgery and what happened after he was caught, turn to page 188 of The Atlas of Art Crime.
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In 1914, Mary Richardson, a thirty-two year old suffragette, slashed Diego Velazquez's, The Toilet of Venus, at London's National Gallery in an attempt to bring attention to the women's voting rights movement. Read more on page 136 in The Atlas of Art Crime.
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Rembrandt's The Night Watch at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum has been vandalized not once, not twice, but three times. Shown here is a 1975 attempt by a former schoolteacher, armed with a bread knife. To learn more about the heroes in and of The Night Watch, turn to page 148 in The Atlas of Art Crime.
Selections from The Atlas of Art Crime
Laura Evans is a professor and art crime historian who teaches, writes, and tells stories about art crime, art interpretation, and art museums.
Speaking
Laura, a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of North Texas, lectures internationally on art crime, customizing her talks to focus on regional art thefts, forgers, and vandalism relevant to her audience. Her global lecturing experience inspired her to write The Atlas of Art Crime.