Dali painting stolen

A man posing as an art patron stole a $150,000 Salvador Dali painting from a Manhattan gallery

Published June 23, 2012 7:00AM (EDT)

This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.

New York police are looking for an art thief who is unusually bold--or unusually stupid, depending on your perspective. He walked into a gallery in the middle of the day, took a $150,000 painting right off the wall while a security guard was in the building, put the painting in his bag and then walked out, NY1 reported. Unfortunately for him, his shameless heist was caught on video, although police still haven't made an arrest.
Global Post
The man had pretended to be a customer at the Venus Over Manhattan Art Gallery. The man first asked a security guard if he could take a photograph of a painting that was on display, a 1949 work by Salvador Dali. The guard said he could as long as he didn't use flash. The guard then got distracted and stepped away. When guard wasn't looking, the man removed the Dali painting from the wall, the New York Daily News reported.

The Venus Over Manhattan Art Gallery has only been open since May and is owned by famous art dealer Adam Lindemann, the New York Post reported. “We went inside to see the show, and we were wondering where the Salvador Dali painting was,” a gallery visitor told the Post. “It’s a small painting, but how did he just put in his bag and walk out like that?" Watch a video of the heist below:


By Allison Jackson

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Art Crime Globalpost New York City Salvador Dali