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The Washington Times

The List: The most valuable lost or stolen art

Picasso's "Portrait of Jacqueline" and Van Gogh's "Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen" are two examples of stolen art masterpieces.Picasso’s “Portrait of Jacqueline” and Van Gogh’s “Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen” are two examples of stolen art masterpieces.

Aug. 22 marked the 100th anniversary of the theft of the "Mona Lisa" from the Louvre. The theft shocked France, and the 16th-century portrait by Leonardo da Vinci was not recovered until 1913. Vincenzo Peruggia was a Louvre employee and Italian patriot who thought the world's most famous painting should be returned to Italy, but he finally was caught when he attempted to sell it to the directors of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The List looks at some of the most valuable missing or stolen artworks as listed by the Art Loss Register (http://www.artloss.com), along with their estimated value when available.

  • The Lion of Nimrud — 720 B.C. Wood-and-ivory sculpture. Iraq National Museum, Baghdad, 2003. Considered priceless.
  • Picasso —  "Maya With Doll" and "Portrait of Jacqueline." Picasso's granddaughter's home, Paris. 2007. Estimated value: $66 million. (Both were recovered slightly more than five months later in Paris.)
  • Leonardo da Vinci — "Madonna of the Yarnwinder." Drumlanrig Castle, Scotland. 2003. Estimated value: $65 million. (Recovered in Glasgow in 2007.)
  • Van Gogh, "View of the Sea at Scheveningen" and "Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen." Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2002. Estimated value: $30 million.
  • Caravaggio — "Nativity With St. Francis and St. Lawrence." Church in Palermo, Sicily, 1969. Estimated value: $20 million.
  • Jean-Baptiste Oudry — "The White Duck." Private home in Norfolk, England, 1992. Estimated value: $8.8 million.
  • Picasso — "Head of a Woman." Yacht moored in Antibes, France,1999. Estimated value: More than $8 million.
  • Monet — "Beach in Pourville." Polish National Museum, 2000. Estimated value: $7 million. (Recovered in Olkusz, Poland, in early 2010.)
  • Cezanne —  "View of Auvers-sur-Oise." Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England, 1999. Estimated value: $6 million.
  • Henry Moore — "Reclining Figure." Bronze sculpture. Museum in Hertfordshire, England, 2005. Estimated value: $5.2 million.
  • Klimt — "Portrait of a Woman." Museum in Piacenza, Italy, 1997. Estimated value: $4 million.
  • Matisse — "Odalisque in Red Pants." Museum in Caracas, Venezuela, 2000-2002. Estimated value: $3 million.

Source: Associated Press

 

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