The high-profile heist at the Louvre in Paris on Oct 19, 2025, played out like a scene from a Hollywood movie: a gang of thieves steal an assortment of dazzling royal jewels on display at one of the world’s most famous museums.
But with the authorities hot in pursuit, the robbers still have more work to do: How can they capitalize on their haul?
Most stolen works are never found. In the art crime courses I teach, I often point out that the recovery rate is below 10%. This is particularly disturbing when you consider that between 50,000 and 100,000 artworks are stolen each year globally — the actual number may be higher due to underreporting — with the majority stolen from Europe.
