Greek Fashionista Busted for Swiping Dali Painting
- February 27, 2013 22:13
A fashion publicist from Greece brazenly snatched a Salvador Dali watercolor off the wall of a Manhattan gallery, stuffed it in his bag and walked away. Now he will serve two weeks in jail before deportation back to Greece.
Phivos Istavrioglou, 29, pleaded guilty to taking "Cartel de Don Juan Tenorio" from the Venus Over Manhattan gallery on Madison Avenue in June.
He says he acted "stupidly" and when he got home he rolled up the artwork and mailed it back to the gallery.
Detectives enticed him back to New York with a bogus job offer from another gallery. Police arrested him at the airport.
His family paid $9,100 restitution prior to the sentencing date as part of his deal.
The would-be thief's lawyer, David Cohen, said it was a "moment of insanity in an otherwise sane life."
![Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.](/images/c/e2/2e/Jan20_Rape_of_Europa100x100_c.jpg "Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), After Titian (Tiziano Vecelli) (Italian [Venetian], c. 1488–1576), Rape of Europa, 1628–29. Oil on canvas, 71 7/8 x 79 3/8 in.")
