The Association for Research into Crimes against Art
The Quest for Justice
Criminal acts against works of art happen more frequently than the public imagines.The stories of these objects range from the dramatic to the all but forgotten. Art works are plundered during war, dug up for profit, stolen from museums, laundered on the art market and sometimes held as collateral by organised crime groups. Art will always attract criminals. Not because criminals are charmed or fascinated by it more than other people, but because with it, there will always be a market.
Art and Antiquities Crime News
An interview with Roberta Mazza
Amelia ancient historyRoberta MazzaInterview An Interview with Roberta Mazza By Edgar Tijhuis Can you tell us something about your background and work? I am an ancient historian specialised in papyrology, a discipline concerned with ancient...
An Interview with ARCA’s Social Director Monica di Stefano
Amelia ARCA historyMonica di StefanoInterview Socials An Interview with ARCA's Social Director Monica di Stefano By Edgar Tijhuis Since the beginning of ARCA’s program in Amelia, Monica Di Stefano has been involved in ARCA’s activities to organize many...
An Interview with ARCA Founder, Noah Charney
ARCA historyNoah CharneyInterview An Interview with ARCA Founder, Noah Charney By Edgar Tijhuis Noah Charney is the founder of ARCA, the Association for Research into Crimes against Art. What started out as a one-man initiative back in 2006 eventually developed...
Virtual restitutions in the age of Coronavirus and Australian bush fires
National Gallery of AustraliaSubhash KapoorRestitutions On 27 November 2017 the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison formally announced that as a result of criminal law proceedings underway in India and the United States against New York art dealer Subhash Kapoor,...
Revisiting the UK’s Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act of 2003
UK Heritage LawsArrestsSentencing This Friday ARCA reviews one of the few successful cases of prosecution using the UK's Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act of 2003. Christopher Cooper was an unemployed, amateur antique dealer in the United Kingdom, who is...
Prosecutors file a civil forfeiture complaint for the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet
19 MAY 2020Illicit trafficking Seizure AntiquitiesAuthorities in the United States have filed a civil forfeiture complaint for a 1600 BCE cuneiform tablet featuring a dream sequence from the Epic of Gilgamesh. Acting as the Plaintiff in the case, the US authorities...
An INTERPOL, Europol and World Customs Organization joint investigation produces 101 arrests.
Illicit trafficking Seizure Arrests Interpol has issued a preliminary announcement on Operations Athena II and Pandora IV. A total of 300 coordinated investigations took place, spanning 103 countries. All of which focused on the dismantlement of international...
Remembering the long returned Orpheus Taming the Beasts mosaic
Illicit trafficking Seizure Arrests The city of Şanlıurfa, modern-day Urfa, is situated in the Taurus Mountains of southern Anatolia, where the east-west highway from Zeugma on the Euphrates to where the Tigris meets with the north-south route from Somaysāṭ. Known...
Shocking images of the theft of the Van Gogh in Holland shows thief used a sledgehammer
Van Gogh The NetherlandsMuseum Theft The Dutch police have released a portion of the video surveillance footage of a single suspect directly involved in the nighttime theft of Vincent Van Gogh's Parish garden in Nuenen from the Singer Laren Museum. On loan from the...