According to a recent Newsweek article, art theft is the third highest-grossing criminal enterprise, behind only drugs and guns. A significant contributing factor to the prevalence of art theft is the fact that the art trade is generally unregulated – most countries, including the U.S., do not require transaction records or public listing of art sales.
The FBI reports that criminal income generated by art crime each year is roughly $6-8 billion, which is more than 20% of the estimated $30 billion in annual private art sales reported in a recent ARTnews survey. And, while 50,000-100,000 works of art are stolen each year, only about 10% of stolen art is recovered.
Industry insiders consider the implementation of dealer licensing, codes of conduct and regulation. However, they are skeptical that regulation is achievable or will be effective due in part to the lack of communication throughout the art industry.
Without a system of effective regulation and law enforcement, buying art is not to be taken lightly. According to Chris Marinello, an art recovery specialist, art buyers must “perform due diligence, pay an appraiser, an art authentication expert, a provenance researcher, lawyers and even a scientist.”