1. Stolen art: Art crime is the third highest grossing criminal industry worldwide, behind only drugs and arms trade. Art and cultural property crime – which includes theft, fraud, looting and trafficking across state and international lines – is a looming criminal enterprise with estimated losses running as high as $6 billion annually, according to the FBI.
a. A recent example of this topic making headlines is the theft of Pablo Picasso’s “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch” from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art in Brazil. Also stolen was Brazilian painter Candido Portinari’s “The Coffee Worker.” The two paintings had a combined worth of $55 million. The Associated Press story is here.
b. Another example of this happened this week in Seattle. A 79-year-old woman who lives in a group home trusted a man to sell some of her art collection for her, by contract. Her collection included Dale Chihuly, Marc Chagall and Joan Miró. He woman was dependant on the money from the sale of this art to keep her financially stable through retirement. The man was confronted by The Seattle Times and has promised to pay the woman for the pieces he has sold in the past four years. The Seattle Times story is here.
c. The BBC’s look at the history and trends in this criminal industry.
2. Public art OR Public nuisance: Cities like Chicago and Toronto have waged an all out ‘war’ on graffiti around the city, while in other places like New York City is not only allowed (with some exceptions) but appreciated. There is a plethora of news and information on this debate between graffiti as a public art form or as a public problem. a. This week, as part of its city wide graffiti removal project, Toronto’s licensing and standards committee voted to allow residents to use cameras on their mobile phones to report graffiti to the city. Residents who spy graffiti on property, particularly public property are snap a photo and email it to the committee staff. The photos will be uploaded to a Web site tied to a map of the city and once the committee staff had dealt with the graffiti the phone owner would receive a photograph showing the newly cleaned area via email. The story from The Toronto Mirror is here. b. The graffiti market: some artists have been able to make a big name for themselves and have successfully marketed their skill into a profitable business rather than just artful expression. One of the most famous graffiti artists is the U.K.’s Banksy, who now sells books at Urban Outfitters and commands top dollar for his work. See his Web site here. Graffiti has also gained more commercial appeal by showing up in movies posters and the main stream media. c. Yet, every day graffiti artists are caught and jailed. Stories like this one make the evening news in cities and towns across the nation. 3. Unlikely targets: As this criminal industry grows, art crimes are occurring not just at museums and from the homes of private collectors, but at churches, archeological sites and other unlikely targets. a. In November of 2006, 14 paintings known as the Stations of the Cross – large paintings each depicting a moment in Jesus’ final hours – were stolen from St. John the Evangelist in Capranica, Italy. The oil paintings, crafted by an anonymous 18th century artist, were the church’s most glorious features, its aesthetic soul, says this Time Magazine article. And St. John’s is not alone many of Europe’s grand cathedrals and churches are learning they must be careful who they let pass through their doors. b. Looting from archeological sites: The practice of looting from archeological sites is a serious problem around the world, from the Andes to Southeast Asia. Archeological sites and been looted essentially ever since locals learned there was a market for the stuff. The looted items sometimes end up in the hands of private collectors, but more often, ends up in museums. An NPR story on the topic.
