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From Ancient Egypt to Modern America: Recent News in Art Thefts.
September 16, 2009
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On or about September 3, 11 portraits from Andy Warhol's "The Athletes" series were stolen from a Los Angeles home. The portraits -- which include American athletes from Mohammed Ali to OJ Simpson -- are reported to be a "multi-million dollar collection." An investigation is proceeding.
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-warhol12-2009sep12,0,1444024.story">http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-warhol12-2009sep12,0,1444024.story</a>
In unrelated news, a former employee of Long Island (NY's) Hillwood Museum has just been charged with stealing (and attempting to sell) 9 Egyptian antiquities. He apparently took the works from the museum and gave them to Christie's to auction. The theft was discovered when one of the pieces failed to sell at auction and Christie's offered it in a private sale to a collector who was familiar with the Hillwood collection. More works of art are apparently missing from Hillwood so this investigation and the potential scope of the loss may increase.
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/ex-museum-director-to-surrender-in-theft-of-artifacts-1.1451120">http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/ex-museum-director-to-surrender-in-theft-of-artifacts-1.1451120</a>