I find it rather hard to believe as well, but seems some people are just stupid. If you want to read another jewel-related how can this have ever happened, read this article. www.vice.com/en/article/p...
Andrew Lloyd Webber writing musical about theft of the Mona Lisa. www.whatsonstage.com/news/andrew-...
What is this country coming to? Can’t even take your million dollaer Fabergé eggs to the pub anymore without them being nicked. www.bbc.com/news/article...
ARCA's call for abstracts is still open for our annial Amelia conference: www.artcrimeresearch.org/annual-inter...
If you would like to submit an abtract this year, send it and your CV to italy.conference@artcrimeresearch.org
To Finance Their Lifestyle, a Young French Couple Went to Cambodia to Steal Antiquities. They Did Almost Everything Wrong. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/to-f...
After the incredible theft of works of art, the Magnani Rocca Foundation invites the public to defend the museum and its beauty. www.artribune.com/arti-visive/...
Hospitals are targets of ransomware attacks because they rely on constant access to patient data and critical systems. When systems are locked, care can be disrupted, creating pressure to restore operations quickly. Seems hackers are toying with museums now. www.corriere.it/cronache/26_...
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From Explosion to Recovery: Authorities Set Press Conference for 2pm on Recovered Dacian Gold Stolen from the Drents Museum.
art-crime.blogspot.com/2026/04/from...
Canada has carried out its first-ever official return of cultural artifacts to Türkiye, following a ruling by the Federal Court of Canada that is being hailed as a milestone in international cultural heritage law. www.hurriyetdailynews.com/canada-retur...
When “Financial Advice” Isn’t About Finance: Art Market Ambiguity and the Epstein–Black Relationship. art-crime.blogspot.com/2026/03/when...
The look on provenance researchers faces when a dealer says their antiquity is legit and the proof is:
note on hotel stationary, but is dated before hotel was built,
a dead man's attestation letter,
a redacted invoice that looks like it came from the Epstein files.
What's your favourite?
Angry...but effective I wish Grammarly had stuck to what they did well, instead of buying into the insanity of rebranding themselves as an AI offering.
This 3rd century CE alabaster statue base was found during an excavation conducted by an archaeological mission and stolen from the Temple of Awwam, known locally as al-Mahram Bilqîs. art-crime.blogspot.com/2026/03/neve...
Advertised as coming from a “private collection,” it sold for €44,000 to Galerie Cybele. Jean-Pierre Montesino, the gallery's owner, ultimately handed the piece over to the French police and reimbursed the client he sold it to. Hat tip to Vincent Noce, for telling the outcome of the story. 3 of 3
It then turns up for auction at Pierre Bergé & Associés on 1 December 2011 with no provenance listed in the auction house catalogue. 2 of 3
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Never underestimate reading books to determine the outcomes of antiquities trafficking mysteries. Highlighted by @combatlooting.bsky.social , this inscribed 3rd century CE alabaster statue base was stolen during an excavation conducted at the Temple of Awwam, in Marib, Yemen. 1 of 3
The Man at the centre of one of Italy's biggest antiquities scandals, Gianfranco Becchina, has had his fortune restored. Should it have been?
art-crime.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-...
Panama Papers Related: Christoph Zollinger, former co-owner of the scandal-ridden law firm Mossack Fonseca admits to aiding and abetting tax evasion.
www.zdfheute.de/panorama/kri...
And this Neck Amphora with Herakles fighting Triton and Apollo at the Chazen Museum of Art. 🤔
chazen.wisc.edu/collection/1...
These two terracotta statuettes depicting a Nereid still part of the contested collection of the Musée du Louvre also have "Haug" / Becchina fingerprints.
Other "Haug" pieces include the two-handled Pelike depicting Phineus with the sons of Boreas by the Nausicaa Painter relinquished by the Museum of Fine Arts - Boston in September 2006.
An interesting nugget to this recovery is the name Becchina placed in the fabricated provenance, Karl Haug, who owned the Hotel Helvetia where Gianfranco once worked in Basel. In the May 2002 raid Swiss and Italian authorities on Becchina's assets they recovered blanks of the hotel's letterhead.
The story continues, the erotic scene mosaic, taken by a Wehrmacht officer in World War II is actually from a villa in the located in Rocca di Morro, a hamlet in the municipality of Folignano, (Ascoli Piceno) in Le Marche.
www.finestresullarte.info/en/news/true...
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Since the advent of the internet and due to popularity "Luristan" weapons of war have eclipsed the originals selling for $200-400 in circulation. Without XRF we can't know if these are forgeries but the Korea newspapers and sheer number give me pause that these may be modern forgeries, not ancient.
I feel your pain. Luckily in Italy we have great mercati di usati....so I just pretend I am fashionably vintage.
Barney's girlfriend Kako...."I would like a single plum floating in perfume & served in a man's hat." A hat tip to Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson's piece in Yoko Ono’s art exhibition. It is just so obscure and truly made me giggle.
The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar
