List of stolen paintings
Title , Artist Date stolen Date recovered Location of theft Details Estimated value
Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci August 21 , 1911 1913 Musée du Louvre , Paris Further information : Mona Lisa § Theft and vandalism Now in the Musée du Louvre in Paris . The painting 's continued and increasing fame was heightened when it was stolen . The Louvre was closed for an entire week to aid the investigation . Recovered after the thief , Vincenzo Peruggia , attempted to sell it Assessed in 1962 at $ 100 million . Adjusted for inflation it would be worth $ 782 million today
Saint Jerome Writing by Caravaggio December 29 , 1984 August 4 , 1988 St. John 's Co-Cathedral , Valletta Damaged after the burglars cut it out of its frame , and restored in 1990
Woman-Ochre by Willem de Kooning November 27 , 1985 2017 University of Arizona Museum of Art , Tucson , Arizona , U.S Cut out of its frame shortly after the museum opened that day . Sketches of a couple believed to be responsible were distributed widely but they were never identified ; the couple in whose home the painting was found after their deaths in the 2010s has been suspected . Currently being restored Insured for $ 400,000 at the time of theft ; however the market value of similar de Kooning works had increased to above $ 100 million by the time it was recovered and the museum believes it is worth $ 160 million today
The Boy in the Red Vest by Paul Cézanne February 10 , 2008 April 12 , 2012 Foundation E.G . Bührle , Zürich , Switzerland An 1894/95 painting ( Venturi 681 ) depicting a boy in traditional Italian attire . Stolen along with three other pieces . It was the museum 's most valuable painting . Recovered in Serbia $ 91,000,000
Count Lepic and His Daughters by Edgar Degas February 10 , 2008 April 2012 Foundation E.G . Bührle , Zürich , Switzerland An 1870 painting stolen from Foundation E.G . Bührle in Zürich , Switzerland . Four paintings were stolen altogether with two of them being returned in 2008 . Degas also painted Viscount Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic in the 1875 painting Place de la Concorde . Recovered in Serbia Part of a $ 162.5 million art heist
The Scream ( Der Schrei der Natur ) by Edvard Munch 1994 and 2004 1994 and 2006 National Gallery , Oslo and Munch Museum , Oslo Further information : The Scream § Thefts The Scream has been the target of several high-profile art thefts . In 1994 , the version in the National Gallery , Oslo was stolen . It was recovered several months later . In 2004 , both The Scream and Madonna were stolen from the Munch Museum $ 110,000,000
Self-portrait with Beret and Gathered Shirt ( stilus mediocris ) by Rembrandt December 22 , 2000 2005 Nationalmuseum , Stockholm The small self-portrait on copper by Rembrandt was stolen from Nationalmuseum in Stockholm along with Renoir 's A Young Parisienne and Conversation in an armed robbery in December 2000 . It was recovered in Copenhagen . Conversation was recovered in Stockholm a few months after the robbery and A Young Parisienne was recovered in Los Angeles in 2006 $ 37,000,000
Femme Assise by Henri Matisse July 1940 2012 Paul Rosenberg , Paris One of around 450 paintings looted from the collection of Paul Rosenberg by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg ( ERR ) . Missing for over 70 years , it was discovered in the Munich home of Cornelius Gurlitt in 2012 and later returned to Rosenberg 's heirs
View of the Sea at Scheveningen by Vincent van Gogh December 7 , 2002 September 30 , 2016 Van Gogh Museum , Amsterdam , Netherlands Recovered in Naples Part of a $ 30,000,000 art heist
Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen by Vincent van Gogh December 7 , 2002 September 30 , 2016 Van Gogh Museum , Amsterdam , Netherlands Recovered in Naples Part of a $ 30,000,000 art heist
Les Choristes by Edgar Degas 2009 February 2018 Musée d'Orsay , Paris , France ( stolen while on loan to Musée Cantini , Marseille ) Recovered outside Paris €800,000
Portrait of a Lady by Gustav Klimt February 22 , 1997 December 2019 Galleria Ricci-Oddi , Piacenza , Italy Believed to have been stolen shortly before a special exhibition was planned at the gallery in Piacenza . Recovered after 23 years hidden in the gallery wall in Piacenza €60 million
The Gardener ( or , Young Peasant ) by Vincent van Gogh May 19 , 1998 1998 Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna , Rome Theft included two paintings by Van Gogh and one by Paul Cezanne . Recovered by the Carabinieri Art Squad a few weeks later Three paintings estimated combined value : $ 34 million
Recovered
Many valuable paintings have been stolen. The paintings listed are from masters of Western art which are valued in millions of U.S. dollars.