Art Thieves, Fakers and Fraudsters: The New Zealand Story

Art Thieves, Fakers and Fraudsters: The New Zealand Story by Penelope Jackson documents New Zealand's most scandalous art crimes of the last 100 years—some notorious but others discreetly covered up by embarrassed owners and institutions.

These crimes include a near-life-sized nude mysteriously stolen from Christchurch's McDougall Art Gallery, never to be seen again; an international court battle concerning the ownership of major Italian paintings stolen from their Jewish owners by the Nazis, then bought by a New Zealand soldier during WWII and later sold to Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

Additionally, the book covers the story of a leading New Zealand painter who sold copies of his work as originals, paintings illegally sold by an unscrupulous art dealer, a blatant theft from the Auckland Art Gallery, and the embarrassing rip-offs by Goldie forger Karl Sim. Jackson highlights that New Zealand is far from immune to the criminal activities increasingly affecting art worldwide.

In 2015, the NZ Art Crime Research Trust was established, with Jackson as a founding trustee. Art Thieves, Fakes and Fraudsters: The New Zealand Story will be launched at the September 30 opening of a major art crime exhibition, "The Empty Frame," at Waikato Museum, and will be featured at the trust's second symposium at City Gallery Wellington on October 15.