looted art

Culture news

Italy returns ancient Iraqi artefacts seized from illegal traffickers

The ancient artefacts, which include four terracotta cones and a cuneiform tablet, were presented at a ceremony in Rome attended by police officials and Iraq’s ambassador to Italy.

31/01/2025

Art

Row erupts over new German court for Nazi-looted art

The German government has approved a new system to make it easier to return Nazi-looted art to their rightful owners.

10/01/2025

Art

Nazi-looted painting back with heirs of Jewish owner

The artwork by German landscape painter Carl Blechen was seized by the Gestapo in 1942 and set to appear in Hitler’s Fürhermuseum.

26/08/2024

Culture news

Ancient stolen artefacts return to Cyprus after decades abroad

The artefacts' repatriation marks the end of decades-long legal battles and efforts to recover the nation's cultural heritage.

23/07/2024

Culture news

Oxford University to return 500-year-old sculpture to India

The planned repatriation comes amid a push by foreign governments seeking to reclaim precious antiquities looted or acquired by questionable means during the heyday of the British Empire.

11/06/2024

Culture news

Tomb raiders: US vows more returns of looted antiquities to Italy

The latest presentation of looted goods in Rome is the fruits of Italy’s decades-old effort to recover antiquities stolen from its territory by tomb raiders.

29/05/2024

Culture news

British Museum recovers 268 more missing artefacts following thefts

The news follows last year's revelation that approximately 2,000 items, including gold and semi-precious stone jewellery, had gone missing.

17/05/2024

Art

Madrid museum can keep Nazi-looted art, US appeals court rules

US judges ruled that Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza museum is the rightful owner of a priceless Pissarro painting, which was stolen from a Jewish family during the Holocaust.

15/01/2024

Art

'The artwork is not guilty': Swiss museum unveils Nazi era collection

A prestigious Swiss institution is attempting to navigate the troubled waters of displaying an art collection with questionable origins dating back to World War II and Nazi looted art.

13/11/2023

Art

Poo Done It? Four men charged in theft of satirical golden toilet

The four golden toilet-thieving suspects will appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on 28 November.

09/11/2023

Culture news

US returns Egon Schiele art looted by Nazis to owner's heirs

The US has returned seven artworks by famous Austrian expressionist painter Egon Schiele to the heirs of a Jewish cabaret star who owned them before he was killed by the Nazis in 1941.

21/09/2023

Culture news

France's Louvre museum set to return stolen Italian artifacts

Seven pieces bought by the museum more than 30 years ago could be returned to Italy as soon as this coming autumn.

20/07/2023

Culture news

US authorities return stolen ancient sarcophagus to Egypt

As Egyptian authorities continue increasing their efforts to reclaim stolen artefacts and bring them back to the country, US authorities have returned a looted ancient sarcophagus to Cairo

06/01/2023

Culture news

Poland wants Russia to return artwork looted by Red Army

The country lost an estimated 50 per cent of museum collections during the Nazi and Soviet occupations.

15/09/2022

Art

Should museums return artworks stolen by Nazis?

The Cassirer family have been trying and so far failing to see the return of a work of art stolen from them by the Nazis.

25/04/2022

Art

Artwork looted by the Nazis returned to rightful owners after 71 years

The painting belonged to a Jewish couple who fled Belgium prior to World War Two, their grandchildren are still searching for other items.

11/02/2022

Art

Long lost antiquities: Italy reunited with 200 'stolen' artefacts

The valuable antiquities, which include a 7th century BCE ceramic vessel and terracotta face of a goddess, are being returned to Italy from various museums and collections in America.

16/12/2021

Culture news

Cambridge University college returns looted cockerel to Nigeria

The cockerel used to be displayed in Jesus College's dining hall, but it was removed in 2016 following the rise of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.

28/10/2021

France

Pissarro returned to French Jewish art collector's family

A painting by French impressionist Camille Pissarro, that was looted by the Nazis during World War Two has been restored to the French Jewish family who once owned it.

08/11/2017