In a shocking revelation, a prestigious German museum in Munich has discovered that a former employee, in a bid to finance his opulent way of life, had replaced several of its genuine paintings with counterfeit pieces and successfully auctioned the originals.
Munich Museum-Image Source: Okaz
The 30-year-old ex-staffer, whose identity remains undisclosed to the public, admitted to switching at least four artworks during his tenure between 2016 and 2018. CNN reported that he sold these art pieces at various auctions, utilizing the proceeds to clear his debts and subsequently splurge on luxury items, notably a Rolls Royce and high-priced wristwatches. An auction house involved in the sale of three of the stolen artworks commented, “It was simply impossible to identify them as stolen properties”, further stating their full cooperation with authorities during the investigation.
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Prosecutors emphasized the audacity of the accused, who unashamedly exploited his access to the storage rooms, selling invaluable cultural assets to sustain a high standard of living and ostentation. Among the replaced artworks was “The Tale of the Frog Prince” by Franz von Stuck, which was swapped for a counterfeit and the original auctioned. The auction house was told that the artwork had been passed down through generations of his family. After auction fees, he pocketed approximately €50,000 (around $52,000).
He later swapped and auctioned Franz von Defregger’s “Two Girls Gathering Wood in the Mountains”, earning thousands more in euros. Another von Defregger piece, “Dirndl”, was also stolen and attempted to be sold through a different auction house in Munich, though without success.
In a surprising twist, despite the magnitude of the crime, the museum employee managed to avoid a hefty sentence. The court sentenced him to 21 months in prison, suspended, and ordered him to repay over $64,000 to the museum. The leniency was attributed to his genuine remorse and confession.
The scandal was brought to light when a researcher observed that some of the paintings were “not quite masterful”, even though framed correctly. This hinted that they might have been replaced. Further investigations in the museum’s warehouses uncovered the three other missing artworks.
