> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Crimes of the Art - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/crimes-of-the-art-32/ - Published: 2015-10-06T23:49:15.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T15:40:00.000Z - Description: On this week’s art crime blotter: Forever 21 rips off an artist's work for a T-shirt design, a museumgoer snaps off part of a Dale Chihuly sculpture, and two Goyas go missing. - Author: Benjamin Sutton - Tags: News, Art Crime, Crimes of the Art, Dale Chihuly, Francisco de Goya, Tacoma Art Museum, Timbuktu, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:13 (2014, 2015, part 3) ![Sam Larson's design at left and Forever 21's T-shirt at right (image by @samlarson/Twitter)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/art-crimes-sam-larson-forever-21.jpg) Sam Larson’s design at left and Forever 21’s T-shirt at right (image via @samlarson/Twitter) [*Crimes of the Art*](http://hyperallergic.com/tag/crimes-of-the-art/) *is a weekly survey of artless criminals’ cultural misdeeds. Crimes are rated on a highly subjective scale from one “Scream” emoji — the equivalent of a vandal tagging the exterior of a local history museum in a remote part of the US — to five “Scream” emojis — the equivalent of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist.* ## Artist Teed Off at Forever 21 ![crimes-of-the-art-scream-3](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/02/crimes-of-the-art-scream-3.jpg) Illustrator Sam Larson [claims](http://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/forever-21-design-claims?ref=hyperallergic.com) that clothing brand Forever 21 used an illustration of his — a stylized rendering of the word “wild” — in one of its T-shirt designs without asking permission or giving him any credit or compensation. **Verdict:** If only such wanton theft were actually “wild” and not, as is increasingly the case, standard operating procedure. ## Goya, Goya, Gone ![crimes-of-the-art-scream-4](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/02/crimes-of-the-art-scream-4.jpg) Two small works by Francisco de Goya — the painting “Dream of St. Joseph” and the drawing “Sketches of Heads” — were [stolen](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/goya-stolen-madrid-home-335751?ref=hyperallergic.com) from a home in Madrid the night of September 1\. The combined valued of the two missing works is €5 million (\~$5.6 million). **Verdict:** Assuming the Goyas are eventually recovered, the collectors can look forward to the works appreciating in value — the market loves a good heist story. ## Destroyer of Malian Mausoleums Goes on Trial ![crimes-of-the-art-scream-4](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/02/crimes-of-the-art-scream-4.jpg) Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi became the first person charged with war crimes, under the terms of the [Rome Statute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome%5FStatute%5Fof%5Fthe%5FInternational%5FCriminal%5FCourt?ref=hyperallergic.com), for his role in the destruction of cultural heritage. Mahdi [went on trial](http://news.yahoo.com/suspect-timbuktu-mausoleum-destruction-appears-court-095349239.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) on September 30 for his role in attacks on 10 historic and religious monuments in Timbuktu in 2012. **Verdict:** It’s surprising it’s taken this long — the Rome Statute was adopted in 2002 — for someone to stand trial for acts of cultural destruction. ## Churlish Visitor Snaps a Chihuly ![crimes-of-the-art-scream-1](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/02/crimes-of-the-art-scream-1.jpg) A 43-year-old visitor to the Tacoma Art Museum has been [charged](http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/crime/article36959307.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) with first-degree malicious mischief for allegedly snapping off part of “Gilded Lavender Ikebana with Lapis Stem and Two Leaves,” a sculpture by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly valued at $120,000. **Verdict:** Get that man a medal — or, at the very least, start crowdfunding his legal defense. ## Houston Criminal ❤ Cameras ![The "We Love Houston" sign (photo by @dn0rth85/Instagram)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/art-crimes-we-love-houston.jpg) The “We Love Houston” sign (photo by @dn0rth85/Instagram) ![crimes-of-the-art-scream-3](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/02/crimes-of-the-art-scream-3.jpg) A thief brandishing a handgun (which turned out to be fake) [stole](http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-film-crew-robbed-by-Houston-man-in-front-6541176.php?ref=hyperallergic.com#photo-6720536) $10,000 worth of equipment — including two Canon 5D cameras and a GoPro — from a film crew while they were shooting a promotional video for a local realtor in front of the public sculpture “We Love Houston,” by artist David Adickes. **Verdict:** Are we sure this isn’t all part of the realtor’s elaborate promotional scheme? ## Drunks Take Museum Wheelchairs for a Spin ![crimes-of-the-art-scream-2](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/02/crimes-of-the-art-scream-2.jpg) Two men in Maine have been [charged](https://bangordailynews.com/2015/09/18/news/down-east/two-maine-men-accused-of-museum-thefts-after-drunken-wheelchair-spree/?ref=hyperallergic.com) with burglary and theft by unauthorized taking for breaking into the Wreaths Across America National Office and Museum in Columbia Falls, stealing a number of items including two wheelchairs, and then using the wheelchairs to drunkenly race each other in the streets until the wee hours of the morning. The men, 20-year-old Edward Cotton and 18-year-old Jacob Lane, also sent photos of themselves drinking in the wheelchairs to the museum’s manager. **Verdict:** Friends don’t let friends wheel drunk. ## No Solidarity for Solidarity Mural ![A mural by Faith47 in Red Hook, Brooklyn (photo by @dustyrebel/Instagram)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/10/art-crimes-faith47.jpg) A mural by Faith47 in Red Hook, Brooklyn (photo by @dustyrebel/Instagram) ![crimes-of-the-art-scream-1](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/02/crimes-of-the-art-scream-1.jpg) After several acts of vandalism, a mural by the South African street artist Faith47 was [painted over](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/arts/design/in-brooklyn-a-protest-mural-draws-its-own-protest.html?%5Fr=0&ref=hyperallergic.com) in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The work was part of an international solidarity campaign calling for the release of Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani, but locals deemed the enormous portrait of a woman wearing a head scarf disrespectful to victims of terrorism. **Verdict:** When we can’t denounce terrorism for fear of offending terror victims, the terrorists win. ## Nocturnal Thief Nabs Paintings ![crimes-of-the-art-scream-1](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/02/crimes-of-the-art-scream-1.jpg) Eight of artist Lydia Cash’s paintings were [stolen](https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150928/edgewater/overnight-thief-cleans-out-artists-lifes-work-from-edgewater-art-fair?ref=hyperallergic.com) from Chicago’s Edgewater Fall Art Fair. Like most of the participating artists, she left her art in a fair tent overnight, confident that the four security guards could keep it safe, but returned the next day to find most of her works missing. **Verdict:** This sort of thing happens much too often — artists, never leave your work unattended overnight when participating in outdoor art festivals.