[HN Gopher] What was the biggest art theft in history?
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       What was the biggest art theft in history?
        
       Author : Petiver
       Score  : 15 points
       Date   : 2024-01-17 19:39 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.thecollector.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.thecollector.com)
        
       | sib wrote:
       | Sadly, not even close to the biggest...
       | 
       | https://www.apollo-magazine.com/red-army-trophy-art-germany/
        
         | bryanlarsen wrote:
         | Also probably in contention is the plunder of the Aztecs by the
         | Spanish.
        
           | foobarian wrote:
           | And let's not forget all the things that the British Empire
           | stole from its subjects across the world.
        
           | kccqzy wrote:
           | Or consider the Old Summer Palace in Beijing by Anglo-French
           | forces during the second opium war.
        
       | laurensr wrote:
       | What about art in museums all over the world that is requested
       | back by the country of origin?
        
         | beaeglebeached wrote:
         | They should sue as anyone else can for goods back, if they have
         | proof they own it .
        
           | parl_match wrote:
           | There have been many articles written about this, you should
           | read them. But in some of the more egregious cases, I would
           | ask you this: how do you sue a government for plundered art
           | when the government has passed laws that prevent you from
           | suing the government?
        
             | beaeglebeached wrote:
             | You're talking about publicly possessed (stolen or not) art
             | where the public won't vote to allow consideration of
             | patriating the art abroad?
        
               | parl_match wrote:
               | You said lawsuit. In many countries, a lawsuit is not
               | feasible.
        
               | beaeglebeached wrote:
               | I said sue, not lawsuit. In some countries you use a
               | lawsuit. In others, it merely means to seek legal redress
               | such as petitioning a dictator.
        
               | parl_match wrote:
               | Suing is the same as bringing a lawsuit. You're
               | ineffectually splitting hairs. Still likely not
               | effective. What's your point?
        
               | beaeglebeached wrote:
               | You've pointed to 'many' countries and also to laws
               | stopping this. Now you've evaluated likelihood. Since you
               | were able to drive a likelihood calculus, what specific
               | laws were you calculating against?
        
               | yial wrote:
               | Not who you're responding to but laws that govern this:
               | Multinational:
               | 
               | Hague Convention of 1907
               | 
               | 1970 UNESCO
               | 
               | 1995 UNIDROIT
               | 
               | US:
               | 
               | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieber_Code
               | 
               | 2004 HR1047 section 204.
               | 
               | (Those are more about stopping theft / destruction- not
               | return.)
               | 
               | UK:
               | 
               | Except for human tissue, it's basically not legally
               | regulated.
               | 
               | Australia:
               | 
               | No laws. There is a government program for aboriginal art
               | and remains.
               | 
               | But as an example, Egypt frequently requests the return
               | of the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum.
        
       | flint wrote:
       | Ever seen The Monuments Men?
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monuments_Men
        
       | ProfessorLayton wrote:
       | Perhaps what's going on now with AI?
        
         | MeImCounting wrote:
         | Art theft implies actually stealing something from someone. IE
         | taking something away from someone else. So that they no longer
         | have access to that thing. For instance the occasion discussed
         | in the article is about art being stolen from a museum. So that
         | people can no longer go to that museum and look at that art.
         | 
         | I hope you can see the difference between that and the "theft"
         | of "intellectual property" that is so hyped today.
        
       | galago wrote:
       | Supreme court chief justice Oliver Wendell Holmes identified
       | Boston as "The Hub of the Solar System", which is still somehow
       | how people in the area think of themselves in my opinion. I live
       | in the area. So it would be this:
       | 
       | https://www.gardnermuseum.org/organization/theft
       | 
       | https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-things-know-a...
        
       | saddat wrote:
       | The British museum collection
        
       | kccqzy wrote:
       | Not a single instance of theft but Stephane Breitwieser is
       | probably the most prolific art thief. I read Michael Finkel's
       | 2023 book on the thefts and it was a riveting read.
        
       | PortlandMEnerd wrote:
       | How is this big?
        
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       (page generated 2024-01-18 23:00 UTC)