ARTHIST 230 : Art Crime

Arts

2020 Semester One (1203) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Explores the growing trend of art crime through a focus on five primary areas: theft, fraud, smuggling, forgery, and vandalism. These will be examined within the context of international and New Zealand case studies, including the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, Nazi looting in World War II, and thefts during the Iraq War in 2003. Ways to curb such crime, particularly the development of art crime squads, will also be discussed.

Course Overview

This paper explores the growing trend of art crime through a focus on theft, illicit antiquities, looting, vandalism and forgery. These will be examined within the context of global and New Zealand case studies, including the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, Nazi looting in World War II and thefts during the Iraq War in 2003. Ways to curb such crime, particularly the development of art crime squads, will also be discussed.

The area of Art Crime is inter-disciplinary, drawing on the fields of art history, criminology, law, anthropology and archaeology, to name just a few. This is the only Art Crime paper available through a university in Australasia.

Previous students commended the fact that this course was ‘quite unlike any other in Art History’ and that they ‘enjoyed the diverse topics covered’. They also said that it ‘allowed them to apply their existing knowledge about other subjects such as Renaissance and Pacific art in new ways’, such as thinking about their roles in relation to the art market and to art theft.
Students who complete the course have skills which will help them in future studies in Art History or Museums and Cultural Heritage, both here and overseas. You can carry on your interest in this area through supervised projects at both Honours and Masters. Ngarino has supervised students on metals theft in the UK, and looting in Syria, Iraq and Egypt, so there is scope for you to develop your research in this field.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: 15 points at Stage I in Art History and 30 points passed Restriction: ARTHIST 332

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 5: Independence and Integrity
Capability 6: Social and Environmental Responsibilities
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Arts

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Define or explain the key areas of art crime, including theft, forgery, vandalism and looting, and illustrate each with a case study (Capability 1.1 and 1.3)
  2. Identify and describe key components of the art market and art world which influence art crime and how these change in relation to place and time (Capability 1.3)
  3. Compare and contrast different cases of art crime globally, especially in relation to non-Western art (Capability 2.1 and 6.1)
  4. Identify and critically analyse current international and national protection in relation to art crime and apply those to specific cases of art crime (Capability 2.2 and 3.1)
  5. Situate the understanding of the cultural, social, and political context in which art is made and its later use/function (Capability 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3)
  6. Critically evaluate a variety of source material to formulate and defend your own view in writing or group presentations. (Capability 2.2, 4.1 and 5.1)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Case study 15% Individual Coursework
Essay 35% Individual Coursework
Final Exam 50% Individual Examination

Next offered

Semester 2, 2022.

Learning Resources

There is a ton of amazing research in the field of art crime – you could spend 24 hours a day reading it through the entire 12 weeks of the course and you still wouldn’t read it all. My tip is to focus your reading – perhaps only read the introductions to some of the larger edited books listed below, then for specific classes go in and read specific chapters. 
  • Bazley, Tom. Crimes of the Art World. New York: Praeger. 2010. Also an e-book.
  • Chappell, Duncan and Saskia Hufnagel, eds. Contemporary Perspectives on the Detection, Investigation and Prosecution of Art Crime. Farnham, Surrey, England : Burlington, VT ; Ashgate, 2014.
  • Charney, Noah (ed). Art crime: Terrorists, tomb raiders, forgers and thieves. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Also an e-book.
  • Jackson, Penelope, Art Fraudsters, Fakers and Thieves. Wellington: Awa Press, 2016.
  • Jackson, Penelope, Women in the Frame. Women, Art, and Crime. Wellington: Awa Press, 2019.
  • Manacorda, Stefano and Duncan Chappell, eds. Crime in the Art and Antiquities World: Illegal Trafficking in Cultural Property. New York: Springer, 2011. Also an e-book.
  • Nicholas, Lynn. The Rape of Europa: the Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and Second World War. New York: Vintage Books, 1995. See also: www.rapeofeuropa.com
  • Thompson, Arthur. Art Crime and its Prevention: A Handbook for Collectors and Art Professionals. London: Lund Humphries, 2016.
  • Vadi, Valentina and Hildegard E. G. S. Schneider. Art, cultural heritage and the market: Ethical and legal issues. Heidelberg : Springer, 2014. Also an e-book.

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, each week you can expect 2 hours of lectures, a 1-hour tutorial, and 7 hours of reading and thinking about the content and hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page (https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894), which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 09/01/2020 02:22 p.m.