“Stealing The Show: Crime In The Art World”

The Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art will host Dr. Sara Angel for its Curated Conversations lecture series on February 20, where she will discuss “Stealing the Show: Crime in the Contemporary Art World.”

A spokesperson said, “The Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art is delighted to announce the next edition of its Curated Conversations lecture series, featuring art crime expert Dr. Sara Angel. Her talk entitled, ‘Stealing the Show: Crime in the Contemporary Art World,’ will take place on Thursday, February 20, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM at the Masterworks Museum.

“The international art market is the world’s largest unregulated industry outside of illicit drug trafficking, populated by a multitude of unscrupulous figures. Dr. Angel states, ‘Art crime has been a constant throughout art history touching every aspect of the art ecosystem and every major cultural institution.’

“In her talk, she will look at numerous cultural felonies to consider their motivations and implications in a global context. Her discussion will cover museum thefts, vandalism, looting, smuggling, copyright infringements, fraud, and forgeries, while also analyzing the negotiations through which some activities in the art world are criminalized while others are deemed unethical but legal.

“Dr. Angel will address the world of art crime through specific case studies to consider both the causes that have brought them about, as well as the ramifications they leave behind.

“Finally, Stealing the Show will highlight representations of art crimes in popular culture where it has enjoyed a longstanding and prominent position, at times often making illicit acts seem exciting, even glamorous.

About Dr. Sara Angel

“Dr. Sara Angel is an esteemed scholar, writer, and an adjunct professor at York University in Toronto, where she teaches courses on both Nazi-era art restitution and art crime. Angel’s doctoral dissertation was on the restitution of Montreal art dealer Max Stern’s Nazi-looted art. Angel has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University, the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Israel Museum. Dr. Angel is a part of the Masterworks’ Canadian Board,The Bermudiana Foundation of Canada, and a longstanding supporter of the Museum.

“Dr. Angel is the Founder, Executive Director, and Publisher of the Art Canada Institute [ACI]. She launched it in 2013 to democratize the country’s visual culture for a diverse, multi-vocal, twenty-first century audience, and to make it available to all, regardless of one’s proximity or access to a bricks-and-mortar museum or knowledge of the subject. Today, ACI is a national institution and the leading digital initiative in Canadian art research, education, and promotion, which makes knowledge on the subject available to all free-of-charge.

“In 2024, Angel received the Order of Canada in recognition of her contribution to the Canadian art world. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, where she received a Trudeau Doctoral Scholarship, the most prestigious award of its kind in Canada, given to support innovative ideas that help solve issues of critical importance. She has been an arts commentator for CBC and writes for publications including Maclean’s, ArtNews, The Walrus, and the Globe and Mail. Dr Angel lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.

• Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025
• Time: 5:30 – 7:00 PM
• Location: Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art
• Admission: free for members | $20 for non-members

“For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit: masterworksbermuda.org/sara-angel.”

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