NCJ Number
190054
Journal
Transnational Organized Crime Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: Summer 1998 Pages: 91-116
Date Published
1998
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article examines key areas and methods in the illicit trade and smuggling of art, and recommends countermeasures.
Abstract
The field of art crime encompasses a variety of illegal activities, including art theft, fraud, forgeries, fakes, and vandalism. The first four categories fit easily with the illicit trade and smuggling of art and the transnational criminal organizations that facilitate the illicit art trade. Vandalism, in contrast, is conducted by individuals with personal or political motivations and does not usually involve organizations. In addition, thieves working for criminal syndicates might inadvertently damage the artwork in the process of the theft. Topics discussed in this article were state-sponsored art theft versus organized art crime, the evolution and proliferation of art crime, the market context and implications, the actors, techniques and modalities used in the illicit art trade, the dimensions and dynamics of the market, and market impediments and methods for combating art theft. On the latter subject, the article advised that the initial step required countries to assess the pervasiveness of government corruption and the weakness of border controls and domestic regulations on the illegal exportation of art objects. The art community, primarily museums, auction houses, and dealers, should increase security systems, address connivance, and cooperate more thoroughly with law enforcement agencies. Further, law enforcement agencies must look beyond traditional methods of enforcement and address the corruption within their own agencies and governments. 90 notes