Mid-market art stolen from Europe often lands in U.S.

  • February 18, 2010 11:42

  • Email
For a twenty-year period, Robert Wittman, former head honcho of the FBI's art theft unit, recovered $225 million dollars worth of artwork, as well as cultural artifacts such as a Bill of Rights copy, which were stolen from private collectors and museums. He now runs his own consulting firm, offering advice on how to secure art collections.

Robert Wittman, the de facto head of the FBI’s art theft program from 1988 until 2008, has tracked down stolen Goyas, a Rembrandt, and five Norman Rockwells, among many other multi-million dollar artworks. 

Art and antiques originating in theft hotspots like Europe, South America, and China are often headed to the U.S., he says. Those that would sell for $50,000 legitimately, but might bring $5,000 when stolen, are the most at-risk for robbery. 

Wittman now runs his own consulting firm, offering advice on how to secure art collections. He also gives lectures.

Read more at Naples News


  • Email

More News Feed Headlines

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) Sunset, 1830-5.

After 13 Years, ARTFIXdaily to Cease Daily News Service

  • ArtfixDaily / August 15th, 2022

ARTFIXdaily will end weekday e-newsletter service after 13 years of publishing art world press releases, events and ...

Read More...
Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Critical Mass, 2002 (Courtesy of the Cheech Marin Collection and Riverside Art Museum).

Inaugural Exhibition at The Cheech Highlights Groundbreaking Chicano Artists

  • ArtfixDaily / July 7th, 2022

One of the nation’s first permanent spaces dedicated to showcasing Chicano art and culture opened on June ...

Read More...
Jacob Lawrence,.  .  .  is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?—Patrick Henry,1775 , Panel 1, 1955, from Struggle: From the History of the American People, 1954–56, egg tempera on hardboard.  Collection of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross.  © 2022 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Crystal Bridges Explores the U.S. Constitution Through Art in New Exhibition 'We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy'

  • ArtfixDaily / July 7th, 2022

Original print of the U.S. Constitution headlines exhibition sponsored by Ken Griffin (who purchased it for $43.2 ...

Read More...
Salvador Dalí (1904–1989), Christ of St John of the Cross, 1951, oil on canvas © CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection

Dalí / El Greco Side-by-Side Exhibit Prompts: 'Are They Really Paintings of the Same Thing?'

  • ArtfixDaily / July 6th, 2022

From July 9 to December 4, 2022, The Auckland Project in the U.K. will unite two Spanish masterpieces from British ...

Read More...