Art crime is a fascinating field where the art world, law enforcement, legal studies, and ethics intersect. I love art crime. Learning about it…not doing it, of course. I was hooked when I first learned about the topic during my graduate studies. While my professional work centered around art collections management, I dreamed of working for the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Since that’s so not going to happen, I settled for reading everything I could get my hands on. As a result, I’ve compiled a list of the best books about art crime. This is part 1, which covers introductory texts, art theft, and looting. Part 2 covers fakes, forgeries, war, and cultural repatriation.
Brief Primer on Art Crime
According to Noah Charney, art historian and founder of the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art (ARCA), there are 5 categories of art crime:
- Theft of cultural property from existing collections
- Looting of antiquities through illicit archaeological excavations
- Fraud, especially fakes and forgeries
- War looting
- Iconoclasm and vandalism
Who are the criminals behind art crime? As these books demonstrate, a wide range of people are involved in the art underworld. They include thieves, tomb raiders, organized crime, terrorist groups, art dealers, artists, curators, museums, vandals, militaries, and governments.
Okay, now that you have some background, let’s dig into the best books about art crime.
Best Books about Art Crime: General
$68.00Buy NowThis book is a great place to start if you’re new to art crime. It’s a compilation of essays by art historians, lawyers, criminologists, and security professionals. Divided into six parts, the essays cover all aspects of art crime: Archaeology and Antiquities; Thieves and Forgers; Crime and the Art Trade; Security and Museums; Libraries and Archives; and Law and War. It was the first book I picked up on the subject and remains a favorite.
Praeger, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2009
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08/25/2026 04:16 am GMT
$66.53Buy NowA comprehensive volume by criminologist Thomas Bazley, Ph.D. If you want a case-by-case account of famous thefts in the art world from 1911 to 2009, this is your book. Bazley also writes about forgeries, fakes, theft during wars, looting, white-collar crime, and vandalism. Finally, Crimes of the Art World looks at law enforcement responses and security measures protecting cultural objects.
Praeger, 2010
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$15.20Buy NowRobert Wittman, you’re my hero! In this fascinating memoir, Wittman recounts his career as one of the most famous art detectives in the world. He founded the FBI’s Art Crime Team and recovered priceless artworks for twenty years. This guy went all over the world, tracking all types of criminals from lone thieves to members of organized crime. He saved Rembrandts, Picassos, a Rodin sculpture, Geronimo’s headdress, and ancient Peruvian armor. He worked undercover, often unarmed, which makes for a real page-turner. I often found myself yelling, “Wittman, get out of there, it’s too dangerous!” I highly recommend this insider’s look into the world of art crime.
Crown, 2011
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08/25/2026 02:04 am GMT
$28.39Buy NowThe Atlas of Art Crime is full of witty storytelling. It delivers the juicy details of 75 incidents of art theft, vandalism, and forgery. Evans writes in a “historical gossiping” tone, making the history of art crime accessible to readers not familiar with the field. It’s also visually appealing, with a nice layout and beautiful photographs. This coffee table book is Totally Historic approved!
Prestel, 2024
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08/25/2026 03:11 am GMT
$29.80Buy NowImagine walking through a museum of lost artworks. Some were stolen or looted. Others were destroyed in war or by accident. A handful were lost in natural disasters or at sea, while others were purposely defaced by vandals and iconoclasts. Some artists even intentionally destroyed their artworks because they were meant to be ephemeral, or their materials were reused. Since a museum of lost art can never physically be actualized, Charney creates it in book form.
Phaidon Press, 2018
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Best Books about Art Crime: Art Theft and Looting
$31.04Buy NowMuseum of the Missing provides a history of art theft and its consequences. We learn about the motivations of criminals and the actions of professionals trying to recover stolen art. In this nicely illustrated book, Houpt gathers a “Gallery of Missing Art.” On the one hand, it’s exciting because you can see images of the missing artworks in question. On the other hand, it’s depressing AF because you’ll probably never see the works in person, thanks to the criminals who ripped them off the museum walls.
Union Square & Co., 2006
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08/25/2026 01:27 am GMT
$33.00Buy NowThe Art of the Heist is a memoir by legendary Boston art thief Myles J. Connor. Up-and-coming rock musician and son of a policeman, Connor decided robbing museums was more his jam. He stole a Rembrandt from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which he later used to negotiate his way out of a lesser sentence in another case. He’s hit up the Forbes House Museum in Massachusetts and a Maine mansion. He’s escaped from jail and had a shootout with police. This dude has some major cojones, and his memoir sure is a page-turner.
Harper, 2009
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08/25/2026 03:11 am GMT- Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists by Anthony M. Amore and Tom Mashberg
$18.93Buy NowArt security expert Anthony M. Amore and investigative reporter Tom Mashberg delve into why criminals just love stealing Rembrandts. They cover the major Rembrandt heists of the 20th century, including the 1972 Worcester Art Museum heist, the 1973 Taft Museum robbery in Cincinnati, the 1975 Boston Museum of Fine Arts heist, and the 2000 Swedish National Museum robbery (which Robert Wittman solved!) There’s even a 6-page appendix listing all known and reported Rembrandt thefts.
Amore doesn’t cover the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft in detail, though, because it’s still unsolved. The thieves’ motives are, therefore, unclear. No worries, I have some recommendations on that heist below. Despite this omission, I highly recommend this book – it’s a wild ride.
St. Martin’s Griffin, 2011
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$21.85Buy NowArt Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners gives an account of the 1994 theft of two paintings by J.M.W. Turner. The artworks belonged to the Tate in London but were stolen while on loan to a gallery in Frankfurt. Sandy Nairne was the Tate’s Director of Programmes at the time of the theft. He was part of the investigation and the eventual return of the paintings in 2002. In the second part of the book, Nairne explores other cases of art theft to understand the motivations behind high-value art crime. If you want an insider’s view of one of the most famous art thefts in the 20th century, this book is for you.
Reaktion Books, 2012
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08/25/2026 01:33 am GMT
$25.44Buy NowDid you know that the Mona Lisa, the most famous artwork in the world, was stolen? Yes, that’s right. In 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia stole the painting from the Louvre. Noah Charney tells the tale of the theft and its aftermath, including a manhunt and trial. He also addresses the “affaire des statuettes,” which saw Pablo Picasso and Guillaume Apollinaire accused of stealing Mona.
Charney also delves into the history of the painting during World War II and tries to answer the question, “Did it ever fall into the hands of the Nazis?” This book not only provides a history of art theft, but sprinkles in some art history as well. You’ll learn about how Leonardo da Vinci created the Mona Lisa and why it’s such a famous work of Renaissance art.
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2024
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$24.95Buy NowA short-and-sweet book about the Isabella Stewart Gardner theft in Boston. In the wee hours of March 18, 1990, two thieves stole 13 artworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet, and Degas. Weirdly enough, the criminals left behind a Michelangelo, obviously a good thing for the museum, but not smart on their part. The book discusses each stolen object in detail and contains beautiful images of the museum before and after the heist. The museum is badass because it keeps the missing artworks’ empty frames hanging on the walls.
Benna Books, 2018
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$13.49Buy NowA deep dive into the Isabella Stewart Gardner theft in 1990, which included 13 stolen artworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet, and Degas. Reporter Ulrich Boser explores the unsolved heist by following unfinished leads. He examines a cast of characters in Boston’s underworld to suss out the most compelling suspect. If you like putting on your investigator hat to solve mysteries, give this book a read.
Harper Paperbacks, 2010
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$10.15Buy NowJournalist Michael Finkel tells the unbelievable tale of Stéphane Breitwieser, the most prolific art thief of all time, who also happens to be an insufferable freeloader. From the 1990s to the 2000s, Breitwieser stole over 300 works of art in more than 200 heists, often in broad daylight. He hoarded his collection, estimated at $2 billion, in his attic room at his mom’s house. Breitwieser is not like other thieves because he stole for the love of art, for his incredible desire to possess art. He was enabled by his girlfriend, Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus (who was also his accomplice), and his mother.
I honestly don’t think I’ve rolled my eyes and muttered profanities this many times while reading a book because I find Breitwieser so irritating and well, kind of a loser. But Finkel presents a well-balanced, fast-paced, exciting account. I highly recommend this easy read – you won’t believe this shit actually happened in real life. Brendan from History Nerds United recommended the book to me in the comments. Show him some love by checking out his book review and his podcast interview with the author.
Vintage, 2024
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08/25/2026 03:11 am GMT
$14.21Buy NowOh boy, this is a hard case to swallow because it involves some of our most trusted art institutions in the United States. This book covers the “Medici Conspiracy,” which was a huge network dealing in stolen ancient artifacts. Giacomo Medici and his tomb raiders looted some of the most valuable artifacts in Italy. They then smuggled them out of the country to their network of dealers.
The artifacts made their way into some of the world’s most famous collections and museums, including the Getty, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The auction house Sotheby’s also makes an appearance in this tale. The kicker is that some of the curators at these institutions knew the artworks were stolen, and didn’t give a fuck. This is an exciting but depressing read.
PublicAffairs, 2007
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08/25/2026 02:04 am GMT
$15.74Buy NowEver wonder why Western museums have treasure troves of ancient art in their collections? Why do the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Louvre in Paris, the Getty in Los Angeles, and the British Museum in London have so many antiquities? Why don’t Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, when the artifacts are from the civilizations that once existed in these countries? Sharon Waxman explores these questions in Loot by delving into the West’s history of plundering and looting antiquities. As cultural repatriation looms large in the art world, the controversy of who owns what and why is one that all art lovers must grapple with.
Times Books, 2009
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If you’d like to learn more about art crime on a professional level, check out The Association for Research into Crimes Against Art (ARCA) and their Journal of Art Crime.
You can also take Art Crime and Art Law courses at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and Christie’s Education. I’ve taken online classes at each, and they’re highly informative.
For more resources, be sure to check out Best Books about Art Crime: Part 2 for books on fakes, forgeries, war, and cultural repatriation. Finally, this is not a comprehensive list, so let me know any additional art crime books you love in the comments.
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