Art Police Blotter: Theft, Smuggling, Manslaughter

---In the wake of the theft of four paintings from the Bührle Collection in Zurich, we've had a lot of random speculation about whether it was calculated theft-to-order, clueless amateurs who didn't know they can't sell these paintings, etc., etc.

Now comes a useful follow-up: a recap of 14 major art heists during the past 22 years. What's interesting is that in seven of the nine heists that occurred earlier than 2006, works were ultimately recovered. Crime doesn't pay (except in Boston and Amsterdam).

---Be careful whom you partner with: Linda Sandler of Bloomberg reports that Edemar Cid Ferreira, the founder of both Banco Santos SA and the exhibition-sponsoring organization, BrasilConnects, who was lionized by the Guggenheim when it mounted its 2001 Brazil Body & Soul exhibition and then unsuccessfully sought to launch a satellite in Rio de Janeiro, has been accused by the U.S. Attorney's Office of having bought an $8-million Basquiat painting, "Hannibal,'' with "unlawfully obtained funds'' and sending it to the U.S. in August 2007 "disguised as a $100 work." ("Disguised" or just "declared"?)

Sandler writes:

"Hannibal,'' along with as much as $30 million of other artworks, couldn't be found when Brazilian authorities seized Ferreira's assets in 2005 and 2006 after he was charged with money laundering and bank fraud. The painting was seized by U.S. authorities from a New York City gallery last November.

Ferreira was sentenced in December 2006 to 21 years in prison for crimes against the financial system and money laundering. A Sao Paulo court ordered forfeiture of all his assets, including the missing art.

---Be careful that your art is safe.

Remember Christo's Umbrellas? Now Maurice Agis, a veteran creator of public art, whose inflatable, walk-in "Dreamscape" had toured Europe for 10 years, was charged with manslaughter in the deaths of two who were inside it in July 2006, when it came loose from its moorings in Chester-le-Street, Great Britain, levitated and flipped over. The project's tour had been funded by the British Arts Council. Ben Hoyle of the London Times has the story.