The Inside Job: Who is Protecting Art Museums from Themselves?

February 15, 2024

By Lily Elkwood

When most people think of art theft, they imagine something out of a spy movie, a villain trying to steal a masterpiece or a criminal mastermind in his evil lair plotting how to evade the highest security measures. In many cases, art thieves are the very individuals responsible for taking care of museums.^[1] The security guards, the curators, the researchers, and even the summer intern are “the criminal masterminds” stealing from some of the most important cultural institutions in the world.

The Issue

Ittai Gradel, a gem dealer, was searching eBay when he found what was advertised as a 19th century glass gem.^[2] With his expertise, Gradel quickly realized it was much more valuable; the item was a Roman Medusa cameo from the second century.^[3] He bought the coin for £15 plus postage and sold it for thousands.^[4] Grabel then followed the seller, Sultan 1966.^[5] For years, Grabel continued to find undervalued collectibles on Sultan 1966’s page, such as a ring from the Ptolemaic kingdom and a fragment of a sardonyx cameo from Roman times.^[6] Grabel began to investigate, and using his keen memory, he discovered that some of these items were in a catalog for the British museum.^[7] Grabel’s research was not limited to the items for sale, but the identity of the man behind the account. The ebay register said the creator of this mysterious account was Paul Higgins, and then later to Peter Higgs, a curator in the British Museum.^[8] While Grabel continued to investigate, Higgs was promoted to keeper of the Greek Collections.^[9] Grabel grew angry and emailed museum officials warning that there was a thief in their midst.^[10] An investigation was announced and days later Higgs was dismissed.^[11]

In recent years, there have been headlines detailing museum thefts by employees. There have been reports of British Museum staff stealing ancient treasures and gems and a German museum employee swapping paintings for forgies.^[12] The issue goes beyond headlines. According to experts, it is an “unspoken problem.”^[13] FBI agent Robert Whitman said, “About 90 percent of art thefts from museums are internal.”^[14] In other words, nearly all art theft is an inside job.^[15] Experts in the field say that museums can be “institutionally corrupt.”^[16] It is not uncommon for “cherished items” donated to the institution to be quietly sold to collectors or small auction houses in virtually every museum in the world.^[17]

The issue isn’t limited to a certain kind of employee either. According to Robert J. Combs, former head of security at the J. Paul Getty Trust, he has seen that theft among insiders occurs at all levels. Within the span of 12 months he saw seven thefts, the perpetrators including curators, archivists, librarians, custodians and even summer interns showing this is an issue for every level of employee. ^[18]

Why is it an Issue?

As it becomes more obvious that inside jobs are an issue within museums, there are questions of why. Curiosity grows as continuous headlines arrive in the news. Experts have connected the origins of the issue to a few causes.

Lack of Cataloging and Size of Collections

Insider theft may be an issue due to the size of many museum collections. A museum worker spoke on the issue, saying, “it would be easy to take something small without it being noticed for quite a while.”^[19] In the case of a British Museum worker who sold 1500 jewels on eBay, the items stolen were not even cataloged.^[20] This is one example but is not the norm for every case.

This issue reveals the cataloging issues in museums that allow for employees to steal. Most of these items were stored in an area primarily for academic and research purposes and were not on recent display.^[21] Museum specialists have emphasized that employees were likely able to steal because the museum had failed to properly catalog on a digital database. ^[22] A director of the Institute for Digital Heritage stated that “most museums do not have all objects registered on their databases, which annihilates the promise of museum preservation. Objects kept for research for lingo for no curator could find them in a database, and consequently would not exhibit them.”^[23] These thefts are not representative of rogue employees taking advantage of their access to some of the most valuable items in the world but a “ fundamental lack of care and system failures.”^[24] The issue lies with the highest level of leadership.^[25]

Lack of Security in Private Areas

Many of these items go missing because of more lax security measures within private areas of the museum.^[26] A museum employee was charged with stealing $75,000 in artifacts from the New Bedford Whaling Museum. ^[27]

In nearly all of these thefts, the museum workers were stealing items in storage rather than on display. The Imperial War Museum of Britain stated that thefts and losses ‘are rare’ because the museum has policies and systems to safeguard the 33.5 million items in its care ‘regular audits and spot checks and restricted access’ to its collection storage facilities.`^[28] In addition the spokesperson specified, “police carry out a thorough investigation for every lost item and these investigations have never established any evidence of internal malicious activity.”^[29] Based on the information provided by experts in the field, the belief that these thefts are rare is miscategorized.

Lack of Security for Employees Entering and Exiting the Museum

Art thefts of this kind rarely target well-known masterpieces and instead focus on smaller items of lesser value. According to a 2014 study, “smaller objects in the $10,000-50,000 range are the most vulnerable.^[30] Some museums even have very few security checks for employees leaving the museum at the end of the day, making it very easy for staff to take items undetected.^[31] Given an employee often has special access to collections and knows the security precautions in the museum, insider knowledge makes it easy to get away with the theft.^[32]

Solutions

Increase Security Measures

Whitman advised museums on this issue over ten years ago.^[33] He suggested ways to reduce the risk of insider theft. One suggestion is obvious. He states that these institutions must“look at [their] staff, [their] procedures for bringing researchers and experts in, making sure that when they leave, you know what they’re taking with them.”^[34] He also suggests that museums should take even minor thefts extremely seriously. It is not about getting the one piece back, but it is sending a message that theft will not be tolerated. He also pressed how important it is to emphasize that theft from museums is a federal violation since these museums are owned by the government. These individuals should not just be fired but prosecuted as a deterrent.

Redistribute the Budget

Museums should focus a greater proportion of the budget on security if they would like to curb these thefts. Museums devote most of their budgets to building their collections and the very buildings that house these collections. As a result, the museums skimp on security.^[35]

Conclusion

Inside jobs in museums seem to be caused by museums ignoring the risk of employee theft. In order to stop these crimes from continuing to happen, museums have to emphasize internal security as much as they do external. Employees should have to be checked before exiting the museum and security has to be active even in private areas. These thefts cost museums and police millions of dollars. The issue must be solved. Cultural heritage should be protected by its protectors.

Additional Reading:

(Germany) — Jo Lawson-Tancred, “A German Museum Employee Has Been Caught ‘Shamelessly’ Swapping Original Paintings for Fakes to Fund His Lavish Lifestyle,” ArtNet (Sept. 25, 2023), available at https://news.artnet.com/art-world-archives/german-museum-employee-swapped-paintings-fakes-2367937

(United Kingdom) Steven McIntosh, “British Museum was victim of inside job, George Osborne says,” BBC (Oct. 18, 2023), available at https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67144607.

(Switzerland)  Christopher F. Schuetze, “Swiss Museum Cashier Pockets Over $1 Million in Yearslong Scam,” TNYT (Aug. 8, 2023), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/08/arts/design/switzerland-museum-cashier-theft.html

About the Author:

Lily Elkwood is a 2L year student at Fordham Law School. She graduated from Cornell University where she studied Blockchain and the Art Market. She is passionate about how art and law intersect in the art market. She is interested in art investing, especially fractional ownership, and is excited to see how art and technology intersect in the future.

Sources:

1. Harriet Sherwood, “Thefts by staff a common problem in UK museums, say experts” The Guardian (2023), https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/aug/18/thefts-by-staff-a-common-problem-in-uk-museums-say-experts (last visited Nov 5, 2023). ↑
2. Noli Novak, “How an academic uncovered one of the biggest museum heists of all time,” The Wall Street Journal (2023), https://www.wsj.com/style/british-museum-ittai-gradel-heist-efec0847 (last visited Nov 20, 2023). ↑
3. Id. ↑
4. Id. ↑
5. Id. ↑
6. Id. ↑
7. Id. ↑
8. Supra, Novak. ↑
9. Id. ↑
10. Id. ↑
11. Id. ↑
12. Emmet Lyons, The British Museum fires employee for suspected theft of Ancient Treasures CBS News (2023), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/british-musuem-theft-treasures-artifacts-employee-fired/ (last visited Nov 5, 2023); Christy Choi, German museum employee swaps painting for fake and sells original to fund “luxury lifestyle” CNN(2023), https://www.cnn.com/style/german-munich-museum-stolen-paintings-sold/index.html (last visited Nov 5, 2023). ↑
13. Bea Mitchell, Staff stealing from museums is an “unspoken problem”, according to experts Blooloop (2023), https://blooloop.com/museum/news/staff-stealing-museums-problem-experts-say/ (last visited Nov 5, 2023). ↑
14. Susan Mandel, Insider theft, fires, and Vandals top list of museum concerns ASIS Homepage, https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/articles/2008/06/insider-theft-fires-and-vandals-top-list-of-museum-concerns/ (last visited Nov 5, 2023). ↑
15. Sherwood, supra. ↑
16. Mitchell, supra. ↑
17. Id. ↑
18. Mandel, supra. ↑
19. Mitchell, supra. ↑
20. Id. ↑
21. Sammy Westfall, “British Museum fires worker over “missing, stolen and damaged” treasures” The Washington Post (2023), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/16/british-museum-theft-stolen-missing-damaged-jewelry-gold/ (last visited Nov 5, 2023). ↑
22. Id. ↑
23. Tom Seymour, “British Museum Imposes “emergency security measures” after staff member allegedly steals priceless artefacts,” The Art Newspaper (Aug. 17, 2023), https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/08/17/british-museum-imposes-emergency-security-measures-after-staff-member-allegedly-steals-priceless-artefacts (last visited Nov 5, 2023). ↑
24. Id. ↑
25. Id. ↑
26. Makar, supra. ↑
27. Staff Reports, “Former New Bedford Whaling Museum employee charged with stealing $75,000 in artifacts,” New Bedford Standard-Times (Jan. 13, 2023), https://www.southcoasttoday.com/story/news/2023/01/13/former-new-bedford-whaling-museum-employee-charged-in-artifact-thefts/69807600007/ (last visited Nov 5, 2023). ↑
28. Adam Schrader, “U.K. museums maintain that art theft is “rare” following reports exaggerating the scale of the problem,” Artnet News (2023), https://news.artnet.com/art-world/uk-museums-contest-art-theft-after-british-museum-scandal-2376132 (last visited Nov 5, 2023). ↑
29. Id. ↑
30. Vanessa Kelly, How Art Theft Affects Museum Attendance, Membership, and Fundraising Revenue, 2021, https://crossworks.holycross.edu/econ_honor/32/. ↑
31. Sherwood, supra. ↑
32. Rhiannon Alban-Davies & Ruby Chan, “Do current collection management practices belong in a museum?” WTW (2023), https://www.wtwco.com/en-hk/insights/2023/10/do-current-collection-management-practices-belong-in-a-museum (last visited Dec 29, 2023). ↑
33. Mandel, supra. ↑
34. Id. ↑
35. Katharine L. Salomon, Art theft, art vandalism, and guardianship in U.S. art institutions., 2018, https://ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4206&context=etd. ↑