The Art of Stealing
Nonfiction books about real cases of art theft, forgery, looting, and disappearance. Done either by individuals, by organizations, or by entire countries (cough cough Britain).
created by amanda_the_tangerine
last updated June, 2026
Comments
i took a class in uni called âfakes, frauds, and forgeriesâ and these are all wonderful books for getting into the dark side of art history!!!
Omg really?? That's so cool! I'm honored to have the approval of a learned person then đ€©. If you have any other book you might remember I'll make sure to add it!
shaky ground by elizabeth marlowe is one of my favs! covers provenance and connoisseurship and the likes all contained in the roman art category!
The description of the book sounds fantastic, and I'm always interested in more literature about the art in our museums! So this is an immediate add đŻ
Ps: Also, I'm going to be so real with you right now, I only understood like half of the words in your comment đ I can definitely tell you studied this! đ from here onwards, anything you recommend I'll take it to church.
Cool! I'd recommend Mysteries of the Snake Goddess and Ghosts of the British Museum
Jesus, the snake one sounds insane! I'm definitely adding that one. And I'm not surprised that there is yet another book about the British Museum I don't know about, and it sounds right up my alley! Thank you for the recommendations đââïž
The ghosts one was entertaining, and it mostly used ghost stories as a vehicle to talk about the theft of sacred objects
I just came across The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel today and thought it would make a good addition!
Wow I can't believe that one went under my radar! It sounds perfect for this list. Thank you đ
Great list! I love true crime about theft and somehow I haven't read ANY of these. I'll have to fix that. Edit: I hadn't read any when you first posted it, but now you've added The Art Thief, which I did read and agree is perfect for this list.
Oh yeah! I added it because chelssicle recommended it here. It sounds so fun, I'll definitely read it soon as well đ€©
I hope you enjoy it!
Ooo This is such a cool list! Any books on here you think are best for someone to start with?
Thank you! In terms of a starting point, take this with a grain of salt because I actually haven't read the books I'm about to recommend, but I think the most accessible ones would be The Art Thief and Ghosts of the British Museum, both of which were recommended to me here!.
They both seem more accessible in the terminology and seem to be written with a more general audience in mind, perfect for opening one's curiosity! Also, bonus points: they both have audiobook versions.
For an even wider history of looting, Possession tells the stories of many art collectors (aka thieves with money to pay other thieves) going as far back as Alexander the Great, in an also very approachable format.
The art thief has been on my list! Itâs also on a quest. Canât remember which one Maybe the nonfiction start is pack
This list is amazing! Iâm trying to get into more non fic so Iâm saving it
I'm so glad you like it! And yesss, it's part of the True Crime Quest, thank you for mentioning it đ€©.
omg this list đź. Something told me to just go to your page and see if you've created one lol. Because haven't we all? This is cool!!
Yay! I'm glad you liked it!
