Name: Art of the Heist (Season 2)
Uploaded: 2007
Description: Meet the crooks who turned crime into an art form. Go behind-the-scenes of the most high-profile art thefts of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Meet the crooks who turned crime into an art form. Go behind-the-scenes of the most high-profile art thefts of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Nazi seizure of priceless European art from museums and private collections was, perhaps, the biggest “art heist” of all time. It took the Nazis only one night to confiscate Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, but the ensuing battle for possession lasted more than six decades.

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It took the Nazis only one night to confiscate Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, but the ensuing battle for possession lasted more than six decades.

The Lady in Gold

It was one of the most elaborate scams in the history of art crime. An ex-soldier’s ingenious plan to smuggle Egyptian antiquities fools customs officers for years, until authorities discover his stash of precious artifacts—including the famous sculpture of Amenhotep's head.

An ex-soldier smuggles Egyptian antiquities through customs for years, until authorities discover his stash of artifacts—including the sculpture of Amenhotep's head.

The Pharaoh's Head

It began as a perfect art heist: a thief brazenly snatches two Peter Paul Rubens sketches from a Spanish gallery—in broad daylight. The ensuing investigation reaches from Stockholm to Miami Beach and includes an art history professor who risks his life for the undercover operation.

A thief steals two Rubens sketches from a Spanish gallery, sparking an investigation from Stockholm to Miami Beach that includes an undercover art history professor.

Miami Sting

Italy. December 1913. After a sixteen-hour journey, a man arrives in Florence and checks into a small, run-down hotel. He is meeting secretly with two of Italy’s greatest art experts because he has something extraordinary to sell: the world’s most famous painting, the Mona Lisa.

Italy. December 1913. A man secretly meets with two of Italy’s greatest art experts because he has an extraordinary painting to sell: the world-famous Mona Lisa.

The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa

In 2006, more than 200 priceless treasures, valued at five million dollars, mysteriously vanish from the famous Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Authorities target a curator and her family as suspects, but a wider investigation could uncover evidence of a much larger conspiracy.

In 2006, $5 million in treasures vanish from St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum. Authorities suspect a curator, but a wider investigation suggests a larger conspiracy.

The Russian Conspiracy

A shimmering gold headdress is looted from the 1500-year-old tomb of an ancient Moche ruler in the Peruvian desert. Later, an art dealer is found bludgeoned to death in his Lima apartment. Was it murder, or an ancient curse? The answer may lie with a suspicious art collector.

A gold headdress is looted from an ancient Moche ruler’s tomb in the Peruvian desert. Later, an art dealer is found dead in Lima. Was it murder, or an ancient curse?

On the Trail of Moche Gold

It was the biggest art theft in Argentina’s history. When paintings by some of Europe’s most famous artists vanish from a gallery in Buenos Aires, the country is in the grip of a ruthless dictatorship. Will the search for the stolen art lead back to the feared Argentinian regime?

When famous paintings vanish from a Buenos Aires gallery, Argentina is gripped by a ruthless dictatorship. Will the search lead back to the feared Argentinian regime?

The Disappeared

Authorities are baffled after a master thief steals a priceless Renaissance sculpture, The Saliera by Benvenuto Cellini, from Vienna’s Museum of Art History. But as the investigation continues, suspicions turn to a handsome security guard who has a way with women—and alarm systems.

After Cellini’s The Saliera is stolen from Vienna’s Museum of Art History, suspicions turn to a handsome security guard who has a way with women—and alarm systems.