Every time a famous painting is stolen from a highly secured museum or a private mansion, it makes headlines around the world. Whether commissioned by an unscrupulous collector or carried out by criminal organizations, art masterpieces are stolen at alarming rate.
Hot Art reveals the secret world of art crime and the people involved. This series offers an insight into the way criminals operate. And if you think stealing a masterpiece is too much trouble, how can you fake one and make a million?
Discovery Channel, Produced by: Palazzina Productions, Duration: 3x 50”
Hot Art 1: Stealing it
Who steals art and why? From the world’s most famous painting theft in 1911, the MonaLisa stolen from the Louvre, to Stockholm’s National Museum spectacular theft of Rembrandts and Renoirs during opening hours in 2000, the first episode reconstructs some spectacular thefts and looks at the motives behind art theft.
Discovery Channel, Produced by: Palazzina Productions, Duration: 3x 50”
Hot Art 2: Faking it
Taking advantage of the fact that fooling the art world can be just as profitable as stealing from it, forgers have been putting their artistry to illegal use for years. Among the ones responsible for pulling big time art frauds where the English John Myatt and Dutch forger Geert Jan Jansen.
Discovery Channel, Produced by: Palazzina Productions, Duration: 3x 50”
Hot Art 3: Solving it
Since art works are relatively easy to take across borders, art sleuths can find themselves chasing up leads all over the globe. To add to the condrum, laws affecting art crime differ from country to country, and art theft on the whole does not come high on police crime-cracking agendas. The last episode looks at the efforts made to recover stolen art.
Discovery Channel, Produced by: Palazzina Productions, Duration: 3x 50”