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Cartel des Don Juan Tenorio was painted in 1949

A painting by Salvador Dali has been stolen from an art gallery in Manhattan, by a man who took it off the wall and carried it out in a bag.

Valued at $150,000 (£96,027), the Cartel des Don Juan Tenorio ,was taken from the Venus Over Manhattan art gallery.

Police said a man posed as a gallery visitor before removing the painting and fleeing.

The theft was captured on CCTV.

The Venus Over Manhattan gallery, which only opened its doors for the first time in May, is owned by art collector Adam Lindemann.

The Dali painting, created in 1949, was part of its first exhibition.

Damn! I'm a lifelong Dali fan, though "Cartel des Don Juan Tenorio" isn't one of my favorites.  It's a small watercolor-on-card from 1949, and I think it was a study for a theater set.  My guess is it will turn up someplace.  Art thieves want the money not the art. 

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BRING IT BACK YOU LITTLE SH*TS!!!

Damn! I'm a lifelong Dali fan, though "Cartel des Don Juan Tenorio" isn't one of my favorites.  It's a small watercolor-on-card from 1949, and I think it was a study for a theater set.  My guess is it will turn up someplace.  Art thieves want the money not the art. 


The part I don't get is why art collectors are willing to purchase stolen art.  If it's really about the art, "They want the art, not the money" doesn't seem to be a decent answer.  What good is art you can't display to anyone, not even your closest friends?

What good is art you can't display to anyone, not even your closest friends?


http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/1X/esq-art-garfunkel-0112-lg.jpg

I know my music hasn't been displayed as widely as my ex partner's. But to not have my close friends see me ...that's where I draw the line.
I am a good person..I am strong..I am a rock...but to not be displayed..now I am an island.   

The part I don't get is why art collectors are willing to purchase stolen art.  If it's really about the art, "They want the art, not the money" doesn't seem to be a decent answer.  What good is art you can't display to anyone, not even your closest friends?


You can hold it for ransom!

The thief mailed Cartel de Don Juan Tenirio a week after he stole it from NYC gallery. 

The guy said it was too hard to sell on the black market.  Yeah, high end art theft is an insider's game.

"Say, Mac, you wanna buy an original Dali?"
8)

http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000TGe3oP1o2Qo/s/1000?1340393392.jpg

The thief mailed Cartel de Don Juan Tenirio a week after he stole it from NYC gallery. 

The guy said it was too hard to sell on the black market.  Yeah, high end art theft is an insider's game.

"Say, Mac, you wanna buy an original Dali?"
8)

http://www.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000TGe3oP1o2Qo/s/1000?1340393392.jpg


"The guy said it was too hard to sell on the black market".  No kidding
"Say, Mac, you wanna buy an original Dali?"    ;D

"That story about a painting being stolen last week that's all over the news and looks identical to this other original Dali...just a coincidence....so...you still wanna buy it, Mac?"
 
Next up: Someone break into the Louvre in Paris....swipe the Mona Lisa and sell it on ebay...or craigslist.

The theft was amateur city.  I had a hunch it would be recovered, but I didn't guess the thief would have the stones to mail the painting back!

The theft was amateur city.  I had a hunch it would be recovered, but I didn't guess the thief would have the stones to mail the painting back!


Y'know, I'm actually kinda glad he had.  That's not audacity, it's a (tiny smidgeon of) integrity.  In over your head, realize you can't sell it, least you can do is try to set the wrong things right.

If it weren't for the risk of damage during the theft and/or poor storage practices at the thief's home, I'd actually be willing to suggest that the gallery let things go with a slap on the wrist; our amateur thief gets to say he had an original Dali on his wall (even if only for a week or so), and the gallery got it back.  Minimal harm, minimal foul.  As bad as his intentions were, all he actually did was fail to sign out a very expensive library book.  If the painting was undamaged, 90 days and a stern "what the hell were you thinking, dude?" seems about right.  If it was damaged, throw the book at him.  (No, not the expensive and irreplaceable book, I'm thinking something more like the Oxford English Dictionary)