I know this sounds like a strange “The Best…” list.

I was listening to an engrossing interview on NPR with a detective who tracks down art thieves, and I thought I could use a list like this in two ways. One, it might be a “hook” to get some initial interest in art from students who ordinarily would shy away from it. Second, for my IB Theory of Knowledge class, it might be an interesting topic to explore — why would people buy a stolen piece of art that they could never show to anyone else?

This is sort of a companion list to The Best Collections Of “The Best” Pieces Of Art Ever Created.

Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Learning About Famous Art Thefts (and are accessible to English Language Learners):

The biggest art heists of the 20th Century is a slideshow from The Independent.

PBS has a slideshow on Famous Art Heists. They also have an article titled The World of Art Theft which would only be accessible to advanced ELL’s.

The Christian Science Monitor has a slideshow on Famous Art Heists.

The New York Times has a similar slideshow.

Art Heists Through the Years is a slideshow from ABC News.

Pilfered Paintings: Five Famous Art Heists Through History is a slideshow from TIME.

Additional suggestions are welcome.

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