Art Crime Podcast

You think you know Vincent van Gogh, bro? We go deep into the Vincent van Gogh stacks; his letters, his Neunen studio diagrams, alternate and credible versions of how he lost part of an ear, his less discussed "Peasant Painter" period when he moved back in with his parents and his studio was adjacent to a cesspit. Mara reveals van Gogh's buddy Paul Gauguin as the total creep he was -- a helluva painter, but a terrible creep of a man. The painting at the center of our heist, 'The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring' triggers some flashbacks of scary paintings in Mara and Baker's family homes. Our news is full of bad fakes of renowned artists, plus the story of a young couple who mistook an installation as an invitation to "interact" and leave some marks of their own. Awkward! Next, it's onto the 2020 theft of Van Gogh's 'The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring', a smash and grab job by some casually dressed guy with a sledgehammer. We tell you everything we know, including the most recent update direct from Arthur Brand himself, aka: the Indiana Jones of the art world!/p>

Episode References

ART
The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring, by Vincent van Gogh
The Potato Eaters, by Vincent van Gogh
Weaver, Interior with Three Small Windows, by Vincent van Gogh
Sunflowers (1887), by Vincent van Gogh

NEWS
Man admits stealing Andy Warhol paintings and attempting to sell fake versions on eBay | The Independent
All 18 works at show of Spanish artist Maruja Mallo were fakes, say experts | The Guardian
Magic: The Gathering Artist Issues Apology After Art Theft Claims | Bleeding Cool News
Young couple mistakenly vandalizes $440,000 painting in South Korea | Yahoo!
What Do You Do With a Stolen van Gogh? This Thief Knows | New York Times

OTHER
Peasant Painter (Biographical Info) | Van Gogh Museum
Unsolved Art Heists: The Missing Paintings of Vincent van Gogh | artnet
To Theo van Gogh. Nuenen, on or about Thursday, 20 March 1884.| Vincent van Gogh Letters
The Doctor and Amy travel back in time to meet Vincent Van Gogh and face an invisible monster that only the painter can see. | YouTube
Security video from the Netherlands’ Singer Laren Museum shows the thief smashing his way through glass doors before leaving with the 1884 artwork tucked under his arm | NBC News

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog: ARTCRIME .blog
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

Mara is distracted by Baker and his "butt ball" which is actually just Baker trying to balance on a yoga ball after way too much coffee. BERTHE MORISOT! Learn her name and please use it in equal measure in future references to French impressionists. As you might imagine, she endured all kinds of patriarchal BS. Despite that, she crushed it! She was critically acclaimed and admired by her peers. Mara tells us more about the paint and techniques used in the [to be stolen] Morisot painting, 'Summer's Day' and she pronounces A LOT of French names in this episode too. Baker is baffled by the concept of 'Queen’s consent' which is a super dumb parliamentary thing. And finally, the theft! It's a heist that makes a statement and forces compromise. It also serves as a warning to get your damn affairs in order before you die!

Episode References

ART
'Summer's Day' (1879), by Berthe Morisot
Berthe Morisot Exhibit (Feb 2019 to May 2019)at Dallas Museum of Art
Hanging the Laundry out to Dry, 1875, by Berthe Morisot
Self-Portrait, 1885, by Berthe Morisot
Reading, 1873, by Berthe Morisot
The Boating Party, 1893-1894, by Mary Cassatt

NEWS
Ghent Altarpiece: 'most stolen' artwork has new €30m home in bulletproof glass | The Guardian
Revealed: police barred from searching Queen’s estates for looted artefacts | The Guardian
University of Aberdeen to repatriate looted Nigerian bronze sculpture | BBC

OTHER
'Summer's Day' (1879 by Morisot) Analysis| artnet
Berthe Morisot: Impressionist Original |speech by Olga Haridge
Art This Week-At the Dallas Museum of Art-Berthe Morisot | Art This Week
Erin L. Thompson, art crime professor
Closer to Van Eyck: The Ghent Altarpiece Restored

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog: ARTCRIME .blog
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

Baker is a little disappointed about gatekeeping and elitism in the art community and wishes everyone would stop freaking out about NFTs -- and as usual, Mara is the voice of reason who talks him off the ledge. In short, art is for everyone, damnit! We discuss the life of renowned sculptor, Henry Moore, and we pry into his World War I experience and wonder how it may have really influenced his work, and then Baker gets really excited about tank warfare, though to be clear he does not condone war! We share the story of a sleep-deprived roadtrip wherein Mara and Baker hallucinated deer and big horn sheep and then we dive into the latest news which makes us ask the question; do museums even know what they've really lost to art crime? We pause for a Star Wars reference, then it's onto the crime! We're impressed by the speed and precision required to steal and dismantle a two ton sculpture in the middle of the night, and then we wrap things up with Baker's thirst for validation and 5 star reviews on Apple Podcasts

Episode References

ART
Tube Shelter Perspective, by Henry Moore
Shelter Scene: Bunks and Sleepers, by Henry Moore
Shelterers in the Tube, by Henry Moore
Reclining Figure, by Henry Moore
Rock Drill, by Jacob Epstein
Star Wars Prequel Concept Art Designs, by Doug Chiang

NEWS
PEOPLE ARE STEALING ART AND TURNING IT INTO NFTS | VICE
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON BREAK-IN: 2 SUSPECTS ESCAPE BY BOAT ON BUFFALO BAYOU | KHOU.COM
WE DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH ART HAS GONE MISSING FROM MUSEUMS | THE NEW YORK TIMES
FRANCE TO RETURN NAZI-LOOTED KLIMT TO RIGHTFUL JEWISH HEIRS | THE JEWISH VOICE
THE NATIONAL LIBRARY HID FOR FOUR YEARS THE THEFT OF AN ORIGINAL WORK BY GALILEO | EL PAIS

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog: ARTCRIME .blog
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

It's the Art Crime Podcast 10th Episode Spectacular! Starring Georgia O'Keeffe, George Clooney, Boris Johnson, Pierneef, Arthur Wesley Dow, featuring Alfred Stieglitz, and as always your hosts, Mara and Baker! We celebrate Georgia O'Keeffe's amazing life and career, we roll our eyes at Alfred Stieglitz, and everyone is pretty tired of people referencing vagina in her flower paintings. In the news, we side with George Clooney and agree it's probably a good time for the Elgin marbles to be returned to Athens, and then we discover and fall in love with the paintings of South African artist Pierneef after reading about secretary-general Ace Magashule’s former bodyguard's theft of a Pierneef painting. And finally, the case of the Georgia O'Keefe painting thefts in 2004 and the sad ending for a former museum employee and desperate opportunist. This didn't turn out great for anyone.

Episode References

ART
Red Canna 1919, by Georgia O'Keeffe
No. 21 (Palo Duro Canyon), by Georgia O'Keeffe
Red and Orange Streak, by Georgia O'Keeffe
New York Skyscrapers, by Georgia O'Keeffe
Famous Paintings, by Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef
Ipswich Prints: Lily, 1901, Arthur Wesley Dow

NEWS
George Clooney Calls for the Return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece | The Greek Reporter
Ace Magashule’s former bodyguard gets 15 years in jail for stealing Pierneef painting | Independent Online
Paris Louvre recovers 16th-century armour stolen nearly 40 years ago | The Guardian

OTHER
Georgia O'Keeffe: Visions of Hawaii, by Georgia O'Keeffe
Tate Modernist: How Georgia O’Keeffe shaped feminist style | The Guardian
Sotheby’s $44.4M Georgia O’Keeffe Shatters Auction Record for Work by a Female Artist | The Observer
In Hawaii, Georgia O’Keeffe Found a Curious New Way to Look at Nature. An Immersive Show Lets You Mirror Her Journey | Artnet
Georgia O’Keeffe: Abstraction at Whitney Museum of American Art
Composition by Arthur W. Dow - Free Ebook
Get Involved and Donate to SkyArt!

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog: ARTCRIME .blog
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

Without Nice, there is no Matisse. We marvel at the roller coaster life and art of Henri Matisse and especially the massive amount of bullsh*t his wife Amelie had to put up with! To his credit and to the dismay of many, Matisse was an artist who refused to compromise and gave all of himself to his art, once telling an interviewer, "I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me." Our thief this episode has a real case of the "sneaky sneakies" according to Mara and we see a similar passion between the thief and our artist, Matisse. In art crime news, a God is returned to Nepal, charges are dropped over a Klimt painting theft, and Walmart steals a portrait from @artbyrizzo and sells it on printed canvasses, how dare!

Episode References

ART
Pastoral, by Henri Matisse
Still Life with Gourds (Nature morte aux coloquintes), by Henri Matisse
The Music Lesson, by Henri Matisse
The Cut-Outs, by Henri Matisse
Salome Dancing before Herod, by Gustave Moreau

NEWS
US museum returns stolen Nepal god | Nepali Times
Prosecutors to Drop Charges in Stolen Klimt Painting | ARTnews
Jeresneyka Rose (@ARTBYRIZZO) was surprised to find Walmart carrying her artwork | Southeast Express

OTHER
21 Facts About Henri Matisse| Sotheby's
'Matisse' by Gertrude Stein | Poetry Foundation
Charming Collioure: A Splash of Catalan Culture in France | Rick Steves
Henri Matisse's Nice | The Telegraph

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog: ARTCRIME .blog
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

Baker confuses didgeridoo noises for throat singing and Mara suggests he starts a YouTube channel for old ladies who knit. We go deep into the intense drama of Vermeer's personal life and wonder how many priceless loaves of bread you could buy today in exchange for a Vermeer. Our news items are happy and sad this week; we discuss the recovery of an art theft we discussed way back in Episode 2, and then we say goodbye to the legendary art detective Charles Hill who died on February 20, 2021. RIP, Mr. Hill! Baker imagines a love triangle and betrayal lurking in the Vermeer painting, Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid, but Mara sees something hilariously meta in it all. It's the painting so nice, thieves stole it twice! First, by intellectual recalcitrant turned freedom fighter, Rose Dugdale and her Irish Republican Army compatriots. Next, it’s an infamous Irish career criminal nicknamed "The General", Martin Cahill. Finally after two hits, the estate has the good sense to leave the painting's security to the National Gallery of Ireland, where it hangs today.

Episode References

ART
Fait d’hiver, by Jeff Koons
Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid, by Vermeer

NEWS
Goldie painting stolen in Hamilton burglary found | Stuff.co.nz
"Painted by a madman": Mysterious message on "The Scream" was written by Edvard Munch himself, experts reveal | CBS News
Judge rules Koons, Centre Pompidou owe Franck Davidovici €190,000 for copyright infringement | Art Critique
Celebrating the Life of Charles Hill, Legendary Art Recovery Detective, ARTcrime.blog

OTHER
Jason Mantzoukas on Seth Meyers
Citizen Archivist Missions | National Archive
Jeff Koons Banality (sculpture series) | Wikipedia
Finding of Moses | Wikipedia

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog: ARTCRIME .blog
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

Lucky Episode 7! Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (aka: Goya) is our focus this episode and boy do we have a lot to say about him. Mara and Baker are big fans! In our sharing is caring segment, we cover the recent “I just wanted to move the Warhol print for a laugh, I wasn’t going to steal it!” guy in Rochester, NY. Plus that dude who found Viking treasure last week, and then Baker explains why Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) is a low key genius who is mainstreaming NFT art sales with Christie’s. We briefly attempt to explain NFTs and what this Beeple auction at Christie’s might mean for the future of art. All of that and lots more Goya talk, including why his Los Caprichos series reminds Baker of an 80’s thrash metal band.

Episode References

ART
The Duke of Wellington, by Francisco de Goya
Saturn devouring a Son, by Francisco de Goya
Saturn devouring a Son, by Peter Paul Rubens (Baker said Raphael in this episode by accident, sorry!)
Essential Worker 2320, by Beeple
Emoji Warfare , by Beeple

NEWS
Local man charged in attempted robbery from Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery | The Art Newspaper
An Amateur Metal Detectorist Has Unearthed a Rare Stash of 1,000-Year-Old Viking Jewelry on the Isle of Man | Artnet News
Christie’s to accept cryptocurrency for first time | The Art Newspaper
‘Beeple Mania’: How Mike Winkelmann Makes Millions Selling Pixels, Esquire Magazine
Know your meme, Saturn Devouring his Son
Beeple-Crap
NFTs are transforming the digital art world. | Foundation.app

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog: ARTCRIME .blog
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

This one is a doozy! Mara and Baker discuss their long affairs with the art of Edvard Munch. We play armchair psychologists on Munch and ourselves. Baker gives us a preview of the Munch musical he’s been writing since college. Warning: Baker sings a lot in this one. Then he has the audacity to try and make “hot goss” a thing, which will not happen, but he’d love to have a jingle for it. Munch was way too involved in his friends’ love triangle (gross) and that brings us to news! Kevin Hart gets robbed by an assistant, a fake German heiress gets out of jail, and finally; Steve Martin doing more great things. Baker sniffs his bowl of tea leaves while Mara investigates the 1994 and 2004 thefts of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, one of the most famous and iconic images in history. In the end, we find it hard to dislike one of the thieves who just seems like a hopeless romantic. Stay to the end to hear our impromptu Norwegian dance song.

Episode References

ART
The Scream, by Edvard Munch
The Sick Child, by Edvard Munch
Nightwanderer, by Edvard Munch
Leiv Eirikson Discovering America, by Christian Krohg (1893)
Portrait of the painter Christian Krohg, by Oda Krohg (1903)
”Melancholy” - portrait of Jappe Nilssen, by Edvard Munch
Madonna, by Edvard Munch
American artist Sam Friedman

NEWS
Kevin Hart’s personal shopper used star’s credit card for a $1 million spree, DA says, Miami Herald
Anna Delvey, Who Scammed New York’s Richest With Plans for a Private Museum, Insider.com
Steve Martin Helps to Launch Indigenous Art Fund, ARTnews

OTHER
The Ed Ruscha print Steve Martin sold when he “angrily left L.A.”, by Baker!
Pal Enger, Norwegian ex-professional footballer turned art thief, The Book of Man

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog: ARTCRIME.blog
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

We reminisce about our trip to Puerto Rico, the street art of Vieques, and Mara falling into a pothole (with hilarious results, says Baker). We obsess over the evolution of Rembrandt’s nose through 30 years off self-portraits, we spend a little time discussing what was so “golden” about the Dutch Golden Age. We celebrate the [criminally overlooked] genius of some Dutch female painters of the era with a special shout out to Clara Peeters! Our news this week is all about the sometimes complicated topic of restitution, and then Mara jumps into yet another case where poor skylight security leads to a multi-million dollar art heist. Won’t someone please think of the skylights?!!

Episode References

ART

NEWS

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog: ARTCRIME .blog
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

We pat ourselves on the backs for getting to Episode 4 before jumping into the wild life of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Baker attempts the podcast's first Art History crash course (with mixed results) and can't help himself from nerding out on comic book artist references related to the subjects of the episode. Mara explains the importance of iconography and tries to dissuade Baker from creating fake art news. You'll be shocked to learn that the mafia might be involved with the Caravaggio heist. And we should probably apologize in advance for our attempts at West Side Story song references.

Episode References

ART
Caravaggio'sThe Martyrdom of St. Matthew, 1599-1600
El Greco’sLaocoön
Caravaggio'sDavid with the Head of Goliath, 1610
Caravaggio'sMedusa, 1597
Botticelli'sYoung Man holding a Medallion
Botticelli'sYoung Man holding a Medallion
The Art of Alex Ross
The Art of Rob Liefeld

NEWS
Randolph man arrested in connection with vandalism at Gardner Museum, according to police
A Single Mystery Collector Went on a Buying Spree at Sotheby’s $114 Million Old Masters Auction, With Botticelli Just the Beginning
Italy Reopens Investigation Into Missing Caravaggio Masterpiece

OTHER
Artists by Art Movement on WikiArt

Find Us
Instagram:@artcrimepod
Twitter:@artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog:ARTCRIME .blog
Mara on Instagram:@mjvpaints

We start with some vocal exercises and Mara explains why Maxfield Parrish was one of the most successful illustrators in history. Even if you *think* you don’t know Maxfield Parrish, you almost definitely know his work. We become big fans of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and Mara plans her own palatial artist studio. Baker discusses the news about a recovered Leonardo-school ‘Salvator Mundi’ painting of Christ and tries to avoid conspiracy theories about its “conveniently timed” return. We inevitably discuss why stolen art is so rarely returned, just like the two Maxfield Parrish murals stolen from the Edenhurst Gallery in Los Angeles —which, conveniently, is the subject of our case! And if you make it that far, you’ll want to stay for our first “fun fact” segment, there’s singing involved.

Episode References

ART
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Murals, panels 3A and 3B
Robert Henri, portrait of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
“A weird celebration of boredom and honesty”: the work of Jess WarbyNEWS
Priceless Leonardo-school ‘Salvator Mundi’ painting of Christ stolen from Naples basilica two years ago is found in a local flat

OTHER
History of the Whitney Museum in NYC
Michelangelo’s poem to Giovanni da Pistoia about how much he hated painting the Sistine Chapel

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

Baker applauds Mara's recent improvisational marionette dance, we discuss a recent art heist in New Zealand and the conclusion of the "Gurlitt Trove" investigation. We accidentally get into a really interesting discussion about stereoscopes and trains and how they both changed the course of Impressionism. And then Mara dives into one of the coolest art heists in history when someone steals Cezanne's painting, View of Auvers-sur-Oise. We don't condone the theft, but we celebrate the speed, athleticism, and use of smoke canisters during the heist!

Episode References

ART 
Cezanne's View of Auvers-sur-Oise
Cezanne's The Large Bathers 
Vincent Van Gogh's Le Jardin de Daubigny
Camille Pissarro's Jalais Hill, Pontoise 
Charles Frederick Goldie (1870-1947) at Art UK 

NEWS 
Gurlitt trove: Research on Nazi-looted art ends 
Goldie painting 'Sleep 'tis a Gentle Thing' stolen 
Batman #1 (1940) sold for $2.22m

OTHER
The Ashmolean
The History of the Prestigious Paris Salon
Van Gogh Museum's "In Daubigny's Footsteps" online exhibit 
Brewster’s Stereoscope 
Stereoscopy, Cézanne, and the Metapictorial Logic of Spatial Construction 
"All hail Adrian Pimento, God Emperor of Brooklyn Nine-Nine" by Alasdair Wilkins 

Find Us
Instagram: @artcrimepod 
Twitter: @artcrimepod 
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints

Baker requests more details about Mara's 6th grade fiction about Mr. Schneider the jewel thief, then "sharing is caring" about art we'd like steal and a new TV show we like to watch. We try to figure out how the Mona Lisa got so popular in the first place, Baker compares the Mona Lisa to The Beatles, then Mara deep dives into the strange and true history of Mona Lisa's disappearance, with cameos by Pablo Picasso and Franz Kafka.

Episode References

ART
Nicolás Romero, Los ultimos dias de primavera (2020)
Caitlin  Winner, Kitchen (2020)
Louis Béroud, L'escalier de l'Opéra (1877)
Bridgette Thornton, hydrangeas (purchased by Mindy Kaling)

OTHER
Lupin on Netflix

Find Us:

Instagram: @artcrimepod
Twitter: @artcrimepod
Show Notes and Blog: https://artcrime.blog
Mara on Instagram: @mjvpaints