ART CRIMES
The FBI's Stolen Art Collection
When William Kingsland died in 2006, he left behind a treasure trove of artwork, but "no will…and no apparent heirs to claim the floor-to-ceiling stacks of paintings and art works crammed into his one-bedroom apartment," according to the FBI. After hiring Christie's to help sell the work, the auction house did some investigating and discovered that many of the pieces were reported stolen in the 60s and 70s—so much for the FBI's, intricately logo'd 13 agent strong Art Crime Team. The Feds later learned that Williams Kingsland was actually born Melvyn Kohn and that he choose Kingsland because "it had a more literary sound to it and would help him gain acceptance among Manhattan’s upper crust." The FBI has compiled a neat online gallery and is urging the public to take a look and see if any of the work looks familiar including some Picassos, like this one (pictured right).
Pablo Picasso "Tete de Femme"
by ANIMAL on August 12, 2008
Comments (2)
That portrait of Balthus is mine. I lost it on the Path Train back in 88.
Posted by boudicon | August 12, 2008 1:14 PM
who takes valuable paintings onto the train? maybe you deserved to lose it for carelessness. you LOST IT?? as in, it wasn't stolen, it was LOST???
i always wondered how that worked, when someone stole a famous painting from someone else, can it just be repossessed? it would have to be stolen by someone who truly appreciates the art and didnt care about monetary value or gloating, because obviously they had to keep it to themself...
Posted by crispy | August 21, 2008 2:34 PM