Portions of Anselm Kiefer Work Stolen in France

Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Portions of Anselm Kiefer Work Stolen in France

Thieves have stolen parts of a lead sculpture by German contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer from a warehouse in France, representing a loss of more than 1.2 million euro, a French prosecutor said on Friday.

The burglars broke into the grounds of the artist's warehouse in the town of Croissy-Beaubourg east of Paris on Thursday before dawn, the prosecutor in nearby town of Meaux, Jean-Baptiste Bladier, said.

"CCTV footage showed four individuals breaching the car park barrier, entering the premises and cutting through the steel fence surrounding the work, before making off with lead books that were part of it," he said. "The artist has estimated damage of more than 1.2 million euro."

Another such robbery at the same site in 2016 saw the artist suffer some 1.8 million euro in losses, while security guards chased away would-be plunderers in 2019.