The Art Theft Business Think art theft is no big deal? According to the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art, art crime is the third most lucrative criminal industry worldwide, lead only by drugs and arms trade. It is also believed that the cash brought in the underground sale and trade of the stolen art brings in from $2-6 billion a year. That’s a lot! Be An Art Detective Ever wanted to be a stolen art detective? Here’s your chance. There are no mug shots of wanted criminals here, just stories of stolen art that offer generous cash rewards for their return. The Los Angeles Police Department is looking for nine paintings removed from a home on August 23, 2008 in the Fernando Valley, California. The stolen paintings include works by Chaim Soutine, Marc Chagall, Hans Hofmann and Diego Rivera. There is a $200,000 reward for information leading to the return of these valuable works of art. On the evening of May 23, 2008, a dozen pieces of jewelry by British Columbia artists Bill Reid were stolen from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The estimated value of the jewelry is $2 million and the cash reward offered for information leading to the return of these stolen artworks is $50,000. AXA Art Insurance is offering a $25,000 reward for into leading to the return of two Pablo Picasso prints that were stolen on May 27, 2007 from the Biba St. Croix Art Gallery in Palm Beach, Florida. The Great Reward And here’s the greatest, most famous unsolved art theft case with a hefty reward of $5 million for information leading to the return of these masterpiece paintings. On March 18, 1990 the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts was robbed by two armed men. The thieves spent an hour and half in the museum and took some of the most valuable art works in the collection including paintings by Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt, Edgar Degas, and Edouard Manet. These artworks and others that were taken are valued at over $300 million, hence the hefty reward.
