Art security

Man attacks 'Ivan the Terrible' painting with a pole in Moscow

Drunk on vodka, a man attacked one of Russia's most famous paintings with a pole, badly damaging the artwork.
The painting, "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on November 16, 1581," was created by Ilya Repin, one of Russia's most famous 19th century artists, and housed at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Painted in 1885, the piece depicts Ivan the Terrible -- czar of Russia from 1547 to 1584 -- consoling his son after having dealt him a mortal blow in a fit of rage.
The 37-year-old man -- one of the last visitors to the museum -- entered just before the museum closed, according to a statement by the Tretyakov Gallery. Armed with a pole from one of the painting's barriers, the man struck the glass case protecting the piece several times.
"The picture is badly damaged. The canvas was broken in three places in the central part of the image on the figure of the prince. The artist's original frame was badly damaged by falling glass," the museum said in a statement.

Art security

The Art of Secrecy

After a chance discovery, the grandson of a Jewish art dealer learned that a valuable painting he believed the Nazis had looted from his grandfather might now be in the hands of one of the art world’s most influential families. Proving it has been another matter.

The work, by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, is known as “Seated Man with a Cane.” Modigliani, a young, impoverished alcoholic, died of tuberculosis almost a century ago; his paintings today sell for as much as $170 million. The portrait of a dapper man with a mustache perched on a chair, hands resting upon his walking stick, may be worth $25 million.

Investigators traced the painting to a clan of billionaires that bought the work at auction in 1996. Lawyers working for the grandson sent a letter to the Nahmad Gallery in New York, stating that the painting belonged to the grandson, who was entitled to its return. They requested a meeting to discuss the matter. The gallery failed to respond, according to court documents. The grandson sued. Four years later, the two sides’ lawyers are still fighting it out.

The Nahmads have insisted in federal and state court in New York that the family does not possess the Modigliani. An offshore company called International Art Center, registered by a little-known Panamanian law firm, does.

Art security

Crimes of the Art

UFO Museum’s Flying Saucer Takes Flight, Crashes

A sculpture of an alien spacecraft that long adorned the exterior of theInternational UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico, wasstolen and eventually found, smashed to pieces. The steel and fiberglass spacecraft had recently undergone repairs after it was damaged in a storm; it was being stored behind the museum in anticipation of a reinstallation on the façade. There are no suspects, and security footage of the out-of-this-world heist has been released.

Verdict: Like the moon landing video, the supposed “security footage” was obviously staged — this saucer heist was clearly the work of Martian looters.

Art security

Moment armed thieves raid Italian museum and escape with paintings worth £11.6million

Armed thieves who stole £11.6million worth of paintings from a museum in Verona have been caught on camera dragging a security guard across the floor.

The masked robbers are also seen removing paintings from easels and walls as they worked their way through the Castelvecchio Museum last November.

Italian State Police (Polizia di Stato) released the footage on Wednesday, as they confirmed that 13 people have been arrested in relation to the heist.

The suspects were arrested for the theft of 17 paintings by artists that include Tintoretto, Rubens and Mantegna.