#looted art

Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, ca 1766-1833, lacquered gilt wood, Vietnam, Musée Guimet, Paris, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara

Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara was donated to the Musée Guimet in Paris, France, in 1889 by French archeologist Gustave Dumoutier. It represents the...

James W Singer 8 December 2022

Striding Lion, 604-562 BCE, glazed clay bricks, Processional Way, Babylon, Iraq, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Striding Lion from the Ishtar Gate

Striding Lion is a masterpiece of Mesopotamian art with monumental size and composition. It symbolizes the strength of King Nebuchadnezzar II and the...

James W Singer 14 October 2022

Warrior and Attendants, 16th-17th century, brass, Royal Palace, Benin City, Nigeria, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Warrior and Attendants of Benin

Warrior and Attendants is a masterpiece of Benin art. It encapsulates the beauty of Africa and its people. Black is beautiful. Black is...

James W Singer 6 October 2022

Chambri People, Ancestor Mask, early 20th century, wood and natural pigments, Ceremonial House, Chambri Lake Village, Papua New Guinea, Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Chambri People’s Ancestor Mask

Ancestor Mask is a masterpiece of Papua New Guinean art. It symbolizes a vanishing tribal lifestyle rarely seen outside of...

James W Singer 1 August 2022

Contemporary Art

The Mysterious Zodiac Project: Ai Weiwei Animal Heads Explained

The Zodiac Project was Ai Weiwei’s first major public sculpture. The famous Chinese artist recreated the famous 12 bronze animal heads that...

Zuzanna Stańska 26 July 2022

Medieval Art

Celebrity Sculptors, Medieval Fraud and Nazi Looting – An Outrageous Story of the Golden Veit Stoss Altarpiece

This is the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world and a national treasure of Poland. Carved over a period of 12 years, the 15th century Veit Stoss...

Candy Bedworth 21 July 2022

African Art

Colonial Looting of African Art: A Century in Exile

Have you ever wondered how European modern artists were inspired by African art? They certainly didn’t travel to the continent. The answer is...

Jimena Escoto 18 July 2022

Museum Stories

The Story of Hitler’s Unrealized Art Museum in Linz

The Hitler’s Museum – originally in German called Das Führermuseum, was luckily an unrealized art museum within a cultural complex planned...

Zuzanna Stańska 19 February 2022

Review

Finding Hitler’s Horses: Book Review of Arthur Brand’s True Story

When the year has come to an end it’s always fun to look back at the books that inspired and impacted us. For me, easily the most fascinating...

Nadine Waldmann 10 January 2022

Kūka’ilimoku, ca 1795-1822, ʻŌhiʻa lehua Wood, Kawaihae, Hawai’i, British Museum, London, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Kūka’ilimoku

Kūka’ilimoku is a masterpiece of Hawaiian art. It is an artistic icon of Hawai’i, Polynesia, and Oceania. With so little Oceanic art displayed...

James W Singer 9 December 2021

News

New York Hedge Fund Manager Surrenders $70 Million of Stolen Art

The New York district attorney’s office announced on Tuesday, December 6th, that Michael Steinhardt, an 81 year-old billionaire and now notorious...

Jennifer S. Musawwir 9 December 2021

WTF Art History

The Art of Adolf Hitler: Idyllic Paintings of a Monster

Adolf Hitler is one of history’s most infamous dictators. After coming to power as Führer of Nazi Germany, he and his followers were...

Abreeza Thomas 27 May 2020