Greatest Art Thefts

1) One of the most daring art thefts of all time took place in France in 1911. On 21 August the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. The theft remained undiscovered for most of the next day, as workers thought it was being photographed for marketing purposes.

A lot of people working in and out of the Louvre came under suspicion. Among them the name of famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso came up. However, the thief turned out to be an employee of the Louvre named Vincenzo Peruggia. He was an Italian patriot who believed Leonardo’s painting should be returned to Italy for display in an Italian museum. After having kept the portrait in his apartment for two years he was finally caught when he tried to sell it to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The thief was sent to prison and the paining was exhibited all over Italy and finally handed in to the Louvre in 1913.

2) 140 objects, including jade and gold pieces from the Maya and Aztec sculptures, were stolen from the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City on Christmas Eve 1985. The alarms had not been working for three years, which fitted in with the thieves’ plans very well. They simply removed the glass from the cases and were off with the treasures. The reports said the theft had been carried out at night and the thieves had left the museum without seeing any of the security guards, who must have been asleep. In June 1989, 111 of the objects were recovered and the two thieves were sent to prison.

3) Prominent Norwegian artist Edvard Munch created four versions of The Scream, a world-famous image of a figure with an agonized expression against a yellow-orange sky. On 22 February 1994, the same day as the opening of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, two men broke into the National Gallery in Oslo and stole its version of The Scream. It took them only 50 seconds to climb a ladder, smash through a window and cut the painting from the wall. The guards discovered the theft when they came across the ladder leaning against the museum wall. The thieves also mockingly left a note reading: “Thanks for the poor security.” The world found out about the crime the same day and it became a sensation because of the presence of international media covering the games.

The Norwegian police came up with the idea of an undercover operation with the help from the British police and on 7 May 1994 the painting was recovered. In January 1996 four Norwegian men were charged with the theft.

However, sadly, eight years later the story had a continuation. You can imagine the shock the people got, who had decided to get together for a visit to the Oslo’s Munch Museum, when masked thieves with guns broke in in broad daylight, tore The Scream and another famous Munch work, Madonna, from the walls and fled. Their motive seemed unclear as it was absolutely impossible to sell these paintings. The thieves just couldn’t go round to rich collectors offering the paintings because the works were too famous.

Fortunately, the thieves were finally caught and in August 2006 both paintings were recovered, but the police didn’t reveal the details of the case.

UNIT 6

Unit 6, Lesson 1, E x.1a

What is Art?

What are the forms of art? When you think of art, what do you think of? Paintings, statues? What else?

Is there a size limit to art? What’s the largest piece of art you can imagine? How small is the smallest?

Is art defined by its materials? We're all used to thinking of paintings as art. Or bronze sculptures. But art can be made from all kinds of materials. Try to think of some. Various kinds of paint and metal, wood, plastics... it can even be an old shoe or a newspaper. What about putting different materials together?

Does art have to be understandable? Is it necessary for it to actually look like something, such as a woman, or a vase of flowers? Does art have to be realistic? Is it better if it is realistic?

What about abstract art? Do you know what that means? What is abstract art about? Can art describe feelings?

Is all art good art? Who decides, and how is it decided?

Does art have to be beautiful? What about a piece that looks truly ugly to you? Is it still art? Sometimes the artist is trying to shock the viewer, or to make you feel uncomfortable. Why would an artist want to do that? Perhaps to make people see things in a new way?

Does art have to “say” something? Communicate some feeling, idea, a record of fact, another way of looking at something? Just try to think of an example of art that does not communicate anything... can you?

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