ART HEISTS!

Speaker: Rosalind Miranda

Not surprisingly, this talk was inspired by the recent heist of the crown jewels from the Louvre last year. When I started looking into it, I learned that the FBI estimates that $4 to $6 billion worth of art is stolen each year! I will go into why this happens, & some of the history of thefts. We’ll delve into why some of the art is never recovered, & why art heists became much more common from the mid-1960s. After this background, you’ll hear about five thefts: a much earlier heist from the Louvre, of the Mona Lisa; the largest unsolved art heist in history; the piece of art that has been singled out the most times for either theft or destruction; & two recent thefts that I hope will have you laughing in disbelief. So come along for a look at the shady side of the art world.