Erin L. Thompson
@artcrimeprof.bsky.social
Art crime prof at CUNY (but opinions here are mine alone). Follow me for how-to tips on art forgery (book forthcoming from Norton), repatriation, monuments, and general museum shenanigans. She/her; queer.
www.artcrimeprof.com
www.artcrimeprof.com
Will remember this excuse next time I want to cancel a class...
November 10, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Will remember this excuse next time I want to cancel a class...
Love that my kids are loving James Herriot, even though that meant they demanded I read the chapter about a cow’s uterine prolapse out loud on a city bus this afternoon…
November 8, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Love that my kids are loving James Herriot, even though that meant they demanded I read the chapter about a cow’s uterine prolapse out loud on a city bus this afternoon…
At the 2024 funeral of Pål Enger, who stole Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” from Norway's National Gallery in 1994 (leaving behind a note: “a thousand thanks for your poor security”), not one but two photos of his getaway ladder were displayed, and his coffin was draped in a reproduction of "The Scream"
November 7, 2025 at 5:55 PM
At the 2024 funeral of Pål Enger, who stole Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” from Norway's National Gallery in 1994 (leaving behind a note: “a thousand thanks for your poor security”), not one but two photos of his getaway ladder were displayed, and his coffin was draped in a reproduction of "The Scream"
TIL about this meet-cute: a guy on trial for smuggling antiquities from Iraq ended up married to a woman who came to support him at trial. She was a friend of the defendant's brother's college roommate: www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/f...
Nitzan Pelman and Joseph Braude (Published 2007)
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:05 PM
TIL about this meet-cute: a guy on trial for smuggling antiquities from Iraq ended up married to a woman who came to support him at trial. She was a friend of the defendant's brother's college roommate: www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/f...
Federal agencies' overwhelming focus on immigration has suspended work on the repatriation of stolen cultural property - investigations that once won us friends around the world.
From @samtabachnik.bsky.social in the @denverpost.com: www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
From @samtabachnik.bsky.social in the @denverpost.com: www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
November 6, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Federal agencies' overwhelming focus on immigration has suspended work on the repatriation of stolen cultural property - investigations that once won us friends around the world.
From @samtabachnik.bsky.social in the @denverpost.com: www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
From @samtabachnik.bsky.social in the @denverpost.com: www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
I have submitted my book manuscript! And then, of course, immediately come down with a cold. I told my classes today that if I collapsed at the lectern to just leave me there so I could get a little nap.
November 5, 2025 at 7:48 PM
I have submitted my book manuscript! And then, of course, immediately come down with a cold. I told my classes today that if I collapsed at the lectern to just leave me there so I could get a little nap.
Incredible survival of 2,000 year old cake
An extraordinary discovery was made in Ibiza: a 30-centimeter wooden sculpture representing Hercules. Considering the scarcity of wooden sculptures preserved from the Roman era, this discovery is truly remarkable.
The figure was found in a Roman well that was later reused as a refuse pit. 🧵1/2
🏺
The figure was found in a Roman well that was later reused as a refuse pit. 🧵1/2
🏺
November 2, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Incredible survival of 2,000 year old cake
This guy would have absolutely killed on Tinder
Fujita Tsuguharu (Léonard Tsugouharu Foujita), Self-portrait with Cat, c. 1920s, Color woodblock print, 38.8 × 28.5 cm (15 1/8 × 11 3/16 in.) (Art Institute of Chicago)
November 2, 2025 at 5:51 PM
This guy would have absolutely killed on Tinder
Considering making a similar sign for the next time I go out dancing.
The last survivor of the Crimean War died in 2004.
"Timothy" spent 40 years in the Navy. After retirement, having moved in with the Earl of Devon, she revealed she was a girl.
She would wander round his garden wearing a sign that said. "My name is Timothy. I am very old. Pease do not pick me up".
"Timothy" spent 40 years in the Navy. After retirement, having moved in with the Earl of Devon, she revealed she was a girl.
She would wander round his garden wearing a sign that said. "My name is Timothy. I am very old. Pease do not pick me up".
October 31, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Considering making a similar sign for the next time I go out dancing.
♥️
October 30, 2025 at 7:29 PM
♥️
Reposted by Erin L. Thompson
“The [MFA] has reached a historic agreement with the known descendants of David Drake (also known as Dave the Potter) regarding two monumental stoneware vessels in the MFA’s collection that were made by the enslaved potter and poet…”
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Resolves Ownership of Works by Enslaved Artist David Drake
BOSTON (October 29, 2025)—The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), has reached a historic agreement with the known descendants of David Drake (also k
www.mfa.org
October 30, 2025 at 2:48 AM
“The [MFA] has reached a historic agreement with the known descendants of David Drake (also known as Dave the Potter) regarding two monumental stoneware vessels in the MFA’s collection that were made by the enslaved potter and poet…”
Halloween costumes: British Museum exhibition planning team.
October 30, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Halloween costumes: British Museum exhibition planning team.
When I was sick as a kid, my parents would throw some ginger ale and saltines at me and take off, but somehow I'm at home producing charcuterie trays for my sick kid. Feels like I'm getting the short end of both sides of this stick...
October 27, 2025 at 5:02 PM
When I was sick as a kid, my parents would throw some ginger ale and saltines at me and take off, but somehow I'm at home producing charcuterie trays for my sick kid. Feels like I'm getting the short end of both sides of this stick...
My "A Burglar Bitten by a Skeleton" illustration has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my illustration.
"A Burglar Bitten by a Skeleton," Illustrated Police News, June 27, 1874
October 26, 2025 at 4:46 PM
My "A Burglar Bitten by a Skeleton" illustration has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my illustration.
Reposted by Erin L. Thompson
Two suspects arrested in Louvre theft.
One of whom was preparing to board a flight to Algiers.
www.20minutes.fr/societe/4181...
One of whom was preparing to board a flight to Algiers.
www.20minutes.fr/societe/4181...
Deux hommes interpellés samedi soir pour le cambriolage au Louvre
Un total de quatre malfaiteurs avaient participé à un commando et au vol de bijoux dans le Louvre
www.20minutes.fr
October 26, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Two suspects arrested in Louvre theft.
One of whom was preparing to board a flight to Algiers.
www.20minutes.fr/societe/4181...
One of whom was preparing to board a flight to Algiers.
www.20minutes.fr/societe/4181...
Reposted by Erin L. Thompson
‘Bone Box’ by Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas at the Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC. “Fabricated out of discarded trays that once stored archeological collections, this interactive work calls for us to engage with one another.”
October 25, 2025 at 8:43 PM
‘Bone Box’ by Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas at the Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC. “Fabricated out of discarded trays that once stored archeological collections, this interactive work calls for us to engage with one another.”
I was interviewed for this! Fingers crossed I sputtered out something of use...
October 24, 2025 at 4:38 PM
I was interviewed for this! Fingers crossed I sputtered out something of use...
Reposted by Erin L. Thompson
I'm very happy to announce that the website (w/front cover) for my and Dr. Evie Handby's new edited volume is now live! We are very excited to see this out in the world next year.
www.berghahnbooks.com/title/Huffer...
www.berghahnbooks.com/title/Huffer...
Investigating Online Heritage Crime: New Directions, New Technologies, Emerging Markets | Berghahn Books
Independent Publishing since 1994
www.berghahnbooks.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I'm very happy to announce that the website (w/front cover) for my and Dr. Evie Handby's new edited volume is now live! We are very excited to see this out in the world next year.
www.berghahnbooks.com/title/Huffer...
www.berghahnbooks.com/title/Huffer...
Anybody in NYC have a high-vis vest I can borrow for Halloween? 🙏
October 22, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Anybody in NYC have a high-vis vest I can borrow for Halloween? 🙏
Reposted by Erin L. Thompson
"The idea that historic preservation is best left to wealthy nations that make money putting the spoils of their imperial conquests on display has already aged poorly. The failures of security exposed by Sunday’s events just make that defense that much more hollow."
The Louvre jewel heist needs a better explanation than greed
Crown jewels or not, we don't need to see another rich person getting away with crime.
www.salon.com
October 22, 2025 at 6:13 PM
"The idea that historic preservation is best left to wealthy nations that make money putting the spoils of their imperial conquests on display has already aged poorly. The failures of security exposed by Sunday’s events just make that defense that much more hollow."
Reposted by Erin L. Thompson
Tlingit artist Nicholas Galanin, “Architecture of return, escape (The British Museum)”, a deerskin map a floor plan of the British Museum and possible escape routes for various Indigenous cultural belongings held there.
September 6, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Tlingit artist Nicholas Galanin, “Architecture of return, escape (The British Museum)”, a deerskin map a floor plan of the British Museum and possible escape routes for various Indigenous cultural belongings held there.
This was a fun interview! And they let me point out that museums, full of colonial loot, are both victims and perpetrators in the black market for stolen art… www.bbc.com/audio/play/w...
BBC Audio | The Global Story | The Louvre daytime heist that shocked the world
How thieves stole France’s crown jewels and what they could do with them
www.bbc.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:50 AM
This was a fun interview! And they let me point out that museums, full of colonial loot, are both victims and perpetrators in the black market for stolen art… www.bbc.com/audio/play/w...
Getting a head start for my costume for the @hyperallergic.com Halloween party…
October 20, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Getting a head start for my costume for the @hyperallergic.com Halloween party…
My kids are real big fans of the Louvre theft (because it's a day off school and I told them they could play Legends of Zelda whenever I'm on the phone with reporters which is... proving to be quite a lot of Legends of Zelda).
October 20, 2025 at 5:48 PM
My kids are real big fans of the Louvre theft (because it's a day off school and I told them they could play Legends of Zelda whenever I'm on the phone with reporters which is... proving to be quite a lot of Legends of Zelda).