What Makes Art so Valuable to Steal?

To quote the FBI Art Crime Team website, Art and cultural property crime- which includes theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking across state and international lines- is a looming criminal enterprise with estimated losses running as high as $6 billion annually.

In 1990, paintings and other items were stolen from the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, and valued at over $500 million. They were never recovered. Your job in this assignment is to be a detective reporter for the New York Times and gain an exclusive interview with one of the following:

a) owner of a stolen art piece or b) curator of the museum where a work of art was stolen

First Paragraph: You are not limited to the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum crime scene and may choose an art work from any of the crime scenes found in the web sites you are linked to below. When formatting your post to the Advanced Forum, include one paragraph that describes the crime scene you have chosen to study. Include the name of the stolen work, the players in the heist, such as the criminals and the museum curators, directors, detectives names. Include historical details such as the time, place and title of the stolen work, the date the work was made and the artist. .

Second Paragraph: Consider the many reasons why the work stolen is valued by a certain segment of society, other than the obvious financial one, and include those considerations in a second paragraph. Explain the New York Times interest in covering this story, since you are the reporter.

Third: Tell us to whom you are asking your questions. Then ask your three questions. Respond to all ask of you and in at least 150 words. ——————————————————————————–

Art Crime Facts 1 ) Art Crime Info http://www.artcrime.info/facts.htm 2 ) FBI Art Crime Team http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/vc_majorthefts/arttheft/art-crime-team/ 3 ) 10 Greatest Art Crimes http://listverse.com/2010/11/06/top-10-greatest-art-crimes/ 4) Your Brush with the Law http://www.yourbrushwiththelaw.com/intro.htm