Breaking down the numbers on art theft trends

Cultural property theft has been on the rise in recent years, and the recovery rate of such artifacts is estimated to be below 10%. Explore dozens of other statistics here.

Picasso is the bestselling painter of all time

Picasso’s artistic legacy remains lucrative 50 years after his death. His output was immense, and several individual works have sold at auction for over $100M. Those sales were not only jaw-dropping but also historic, leading to Picasso’s place as the top-grossing artist of all time.

The number of active art NFT traders peaked above 529,000 in 2021

The market for art non-fungible tokens has collapsed since its 2021 peak. In 2024, it had just 76,000 active traders.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide.

Successful art thieves run into the problem of having a painting too famous to sell

This potentially explains why some robbers hold onto these pieces for years, even decades. Security experts say no reputable art dealers, or even black-market dealers, are willing to sell stolen works by famous artists like Van Gogh or Modigliani.

How art-backed loans work

Using your art collections—some of which are valued in the millions—to secure a loan is becoming more common among collectors. Here's a breakdown on how banks and private lenders are making best of the opportunity in liquidity.

Jeff Bezos has an art collection worth hundreds of millions

The collection includes an oil painting by Pablo Picasso that was once part of Picasso's personal collection. Bezos purchased the painting in a 2023 Sotheby's auction.

Explore works by essential female pop artists

Like so many art movements, the pantheon of pop art was mostly men, despite the contributions of several important women artists to its aesthetics and history. See paintings from British pop founder Pauline Boty and several artists who worked with, or exhibited alongside, the likes of Warhol and Haring.

The 30 most important performance artists

Through centering on the human body, performance art can surprise and shock us. This rundown of 30 of its practitioners highlights their individual art and selects an image to showcase their specific style. While some are more clever or conceptual, many are viscerally shocking, including artistic nudity and, in some cases, graphic violence.

Purchasing art is a common money laundering technique

Art is easy to transport internationally, susceptible to price inflation, and usually paid for with cash, making it a frequently used money laundering tactic. Additionally, loose regulations surrounding art transactions allow buyers to remain anonymous, adding an additional layer of ease for people trying to launder money.

All of the world's gold, visualized

Out of the total above-ground stock of gold (weighing roughly 216,265 metric tons), the largest share is found in jewelry (97,149 metric tons).

Young readers are increasingly interested in graphic novels

Sales for the form, which relies on illustration as much as text but otherwise follows the form of the novel, are up 69% among young school-aged children. The genre has many sophisticated, intellectual, and critically-acclaimed titles, though it's sometimes derided as a less serious form of literature. Still, studies find that young children who read graphic novels and comics report higher levels of affinity for reading.

Bellagio hotel sells Picasso artwork

Eleven Picasso paintings and other works that helped turn Las Vegas into an unlikely destination for art were sold at auction for more than $100 million.

Scientists used mass spectrometry to determine the materials in a 1690 painting

Previously used to map the distribution of molecules on biological tissue samples, researchers combined the technique with machine learning to uncover six layers of pigments, binders, and a thin gold leaf layer within *The Marriage of the Virgin*, from a collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The technique may help identify and track artists' material use to learn about pieces of unknown provenance. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Pop art explored the concepts of mass production and consumerism

Consumerism emerged from industrial capitalism, promoting the idea that consuming goods was linked to personal success and happiness. Artists, especially pop artists, approached this cultural phenomenon through various perspectives, some supportive of consumerism and others against. Figures like Andy Warhol embraced mass media imagery and mimicked its style, while many artists rejected the “commodification” of things by creating art that couldn’t be sold or focusing on experiences rather than objects.

5 works of art that were destroyed and repaired

Art preservation is a delicate skill; art reconstruction is even more challenging, especially when the damaged works are centuries old. This Artnet guide details five of the most famous cases of dismembered works (from Manet, Cézanne, and more) that were repaired by specialists, allowing audiences to see the pieces in the way they were intended.

Check out a list of the 100 best artworks about America, including Norman Rockwell, Jasper Johns, and many more.

Basquiat's paintings are among the most sought after works in the art world

Although he was popular during his lifetime, Basquiat’s legend has only grown in the decades since his death. In 2017, an untitled work from 1982, sold for $110.4M. More recently, an early work, 1981’s "Crowns (Peso Neto)," earned $48.3M. That work is pictured below.

Although no longer the dominant format, CDs are increasingly popular with younger people

The compact disc now only accounts for about 3% of all music industry revenue, but those who still purchase CDs are, generally, much younger than most would expect. A 2023 YouGov poll found that 53% of Americans were willing to pay for music on CDs. When broken down by generation, those under 45-years-old were more likely to express interest in CDs and vinyl.

Some robbers have been able to steal works of art with surprising ease

A number of heists have taken place in just a few minutes, relying on a small team and minor weapons. Once pieces are stolen, some are sold as high-quality replicas, leaving art collectors unknowingly holding original masterpieces in their collections.

The history of infographics: cave art to interactive visuals

When did humans first create infographics? This article and related infographics detail how artistic data representations have evolved alongside humans and other hominins. The roots of infographics can be traced back to cave paintings, such as...

Pop artist Yayoi Kusama is arguably the most famous living female artist

The Japanese pop artist is one of many figures whose work challenged ideas of traditional fine art. Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, and Claes Oldenburg are among the other artists known for defining pop art.

Trove of posthumous paintings reveals Basquiat's technical skill and process

The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art exhibited 50 paintings by the artist in 2026 that had not been shown before. Focused primarily on heads and anatomy, the artworks are touched with signs of his process: smudges, footprints, splashes. The exhibit is annotated with comments from contemporary artists on Basquiat's visionary skill, with some describing him as one of the world's greatest. View a sampling and read more about them here.

A detailed analysis of romance novel covers through history

A lot has changed in the romance genre over time, a fact that's clearest in the way that the books are marketed to consumers. This interactive data visualization surveyed decades of romance book jackets, finding that raunchy, realistic paintings of scantily clad models have largely been replaced by vibrantly colored illustrations, often with the characters drawn as cartoons.

The Guggenheim houses works from some of pop art’s biggest names

British writer and curator Lawrence Alloway was an early champion of pop art—some claim he coined the term in 1958. He organized the 1963 “Six Painters and the Object” exhibition at the Guggenheim, featuring heavy hitters including Johns, Lichtenstein, and Warhol.

Banksy once sold his highly valued artwork on the street for $60

The notorious (and anonymous) street artist has a history of sending up the art world's pretensions. In 2013, he sold his artwork, valued at approximately $20K per piece, for $60 on a New York street. Some unassuming, but apparently aesthetically discerning, patrons took home world-renowned work that day at a steep discount.

A unique art piece became the most expensive NFT when it sold for $92M

Non-fungible tokens sold for millions of dollars during their popularity peak from 2021 to 2022, with the top ten most expensive NFTs all costing upwards of $7M.

See some of Picasso's most famous works

Picasso is one of history’s most famous painters. He redefined the standards of artistic beauty and forged a unique, revolutionary modern style. Today, he inspires artists looking to challenge the status quo. The Museu Picasso in Barcelona, the artist’s hometown, holds nearly 5,000 of Picasso’s early works, making it the perfect place to glimpse the ideas and range of his artistic practice. Below is 1917's "Fruit Bowl."

Pop art brought 'low culture' to the fine art world

Pop art’s embrace of kitsch American pop culture furthered a centuries-long tradition of the visual arts during the second half of the 20th century. Its most famous exemplars, including Andy Warhol, were heirs to a vast tradition they sought to transcend and upend.

The history of iconic pigments used in seven famous paintings

While art paints can be bought by the bucket at any craft store today, pigments throughout history have been difficult to come by. Art historian Kelly Grovier traces the fascinating history of pigments that make up hidden layers in masterpieces from Picasso and Hokusai’s Prussian Blue to Vermeer’s shade of red.

Banksy turned graffiti into high art

The anonymous artist is renowned for his puckish, often stenciled street art. He's also known for the eye-popping sales those works command once they're up for auction. This podcast dives into the history of the singular artist, exploring how a British graffiti artist became a cultural icon.

Graffiti exists in a legal gray area

"Street art" has become a major seller in the art world, yet many states still consider graffiti to be illegal vandalism. Copyright law complicates the situation further, offering protections for "original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression," even if they've been created illegally.

Exploring the link between history, art, and anatomy

Throughout centuries, art has played a vital role in sharing—and furthering—scientific understanding. This largely began in 1543 when physician Andreas Vesalius worked with an artist and engraver to transform learnings from his dissections into...

Japanese artwork often incorporates bold colors, clean lines, and natural subjects

While Japanese art is diverse and continues to adopt new styles and techniques, the Japanese approach to painting nature inspired Georgia O’Keeffe, who was known for depicting the environment in a detailed yet realistic manner. Below is "The Great Wave off Kanagawa," from 1931, by Hokusai.

Both British and American pop art took inspiration from US culture

Pop art emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and the late 1950s in America. American pop art focused on representational art and was directly inspired by living within American popular culture, using hard edges and distinct forms. Its British sibling, on the other hand, took a more academic approach, viewing American culture from a distance and employing irony and parody.

The 1980s neo-pop movement put pop art back in the zeitgeist

Pop art’s legacy is perhaps best exemplified in its longevity. Long after the end of pop art’s classical phase, a neo-pop revival ushered in a new cohort of artists like Murakami, Hirst, and Koons who brought pop once again to the top. To this day, contemporary pop artists—young and seasoned—command high prices on the open market.

Ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were likely colorful, not white

Archaeologists stumbling upon statues from ancient Greece often found weathered creatures, their faces and figures marred by age and conflict. But evidence of polychromy—painting sculptures with color—has continued to mount.