RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
A1 Schulmeisterová, Dita
T1 Opportunity makes the thief : Theft of works of art from the National Gallery in Prague before 1989 with the example of two criminal cases
JF Staletá Praha
YR 2024
VO 40
IS 1
SP 92
OP 111
DO 10.56112/sp.2024.1.05
UL https://staletapraha.cz/en/artkey/pha-202401-0005.php
AB The text deals with the theft of works of art from the National Gallery in Prague before 1989. Two examples show the two main ways in which these crimes were committed: theft by burglary and theft by staff. First is described the theft of three paintings from the Sternberg Palace in 1972, when thieves managed to steal works by Frans Hals, Tintoretto and El Greco. The second example describes the pilfering of the Graphic Collection by gallery employees in the 1950s. The issue of the security of collections in Czechoslovakia during this period and the impact of both cases on the operation of the National Gallery as an institution are examined. Several other robberies at the National Gallery and at some other collecting institutions are mentioned.