Art Recovery International (previously Art Recovery Group) is a private company that provides due diligence, dispute resolution and art recovery services to the international art market and cultural heritage institutions. It is headquartered in Venice, Italy.
The company was founded in 2013 initially specialising in the recovery of stolen and claimed works of art. In 2015 the company launched the ArtClaim Database as a new art market due diligence resource. The online resource was developed with Soza Technical and
LTU technologies, introducing image-recognition technology to commercial due diligence for the first time.
In 2016, a non-profit company based in the US was formed and the ArtClaim Database became ARTIVE.org.
History
Art Recovery International was established in 2013 by Christopher A. Marinello, a lawyer specialising in the recovery of stolen and claimed works of art. Prior to founding the company, Marinello was formerly General Counsel of the
Art Loss Register
The Art Loss Register (ALR) is the world's largest database of stolen art. A computerized international database that captures information about lost and stolen art, antiques, and collectibles, the ALR is a London-based, independent, for-profit c ...
. Marinello was responsible for virtually all the successful art recoveries for the Art Loss Register from 2006-2013. In 2013, Marinello became dissatisfied with the methods of ALR's Chairman,
Julian Radcliffe and decided to form his own art recovery business and stolen art database. The cases and clients followed and Art Recovery International enjoyed almost immediate success and acclaim.
All the company's services are provided to law enforcement agencies on a pro-bono basis.
Since its establishment, Art Recovery has overseen a number of high-profile recovery cases including works by:
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Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
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El Greco
Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (; "The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...
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Maurice de Vlaminck
Maurice de Vlaminck (; 4 April 1876 - 11 October 1958) was a French painter. Along with André Derain and Henri Matisse, he is considered one of the principal figures in the Fauve movement, a group of modern artists who from 1904 to 1908 were ...
* Henri Matisse
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Paul Manship
Paul Howard Manship (December 25, 1885 – January 31, 1966) was an American Sculpture, sculptor. He consistently created mythological pieces in a classical style, and was a major force in the Art Deco in the United States, Art Deco movement. ...
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Duccio di Buoninsegna
Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ), commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religi ...
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Henri Martin
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Auguste Rodin
François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...
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Jean-Antoine Houdon
Jean-Antoine, chevalier Houdon (; 20 March 1741 – 15 July 1828) was a French neoclassical sculptor.
Houdon is famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors and political figures of the Enlightenment. Houdon's subjects ...
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Antoine Blanchard
Antoine Blanchard is the pseudonym under which the French painter Marcel Masson (15 November 1910 – 10 August 1988)Artnet painted his immensely popular Parisian street scenes. He was born in a small village near the banks of the Loire.
Educat ...
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Vincenzo Chilone
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Michele Marieschi
In 2015, the company launched the ArtClaim Database as a new due diligence resource for the international art market.
The web-based platform introduced image-recognition technology into searches and item registrations in order to improve the accuracy of efforts to reduce the trade in illicit art. In October 2015, the ArtClaim Database was awarded Wealth Management Innovator of the Year at the
Spear's
''Spear's'' (formerly known as ''Spear's WMS'' or ''Spear's Wealth Management Survey''), founded in 2006 by William Cash, is a bimonthly British magazine for high-net-worth individuals and those in the financial service industries. It has been ...
Wealth Management awards. In 2016, a non-profit company based in the US was formed and the ArtClaim Database became ARTIVE.org
Christopher A. Marinello
Art Recovery Group's CEO is Christopher A. Marinello, one of the world's leading practitioners in the restitution and recovery of stolen and claimed works of art. He has been involved in the recovery of over $500 million worth of art and some of the most high-profile stolen art cases around the world.
Marinello has also represented the heirs of
Paul Rosenberg in their recovery efforts for art works looted during the Second World War. In May 2015, Marinello oversaw the recovery of a painting by Henri Matisse discovered in the Munich home of
Cornelius Gurlitt on behalf of the Rosenberg family.
In 2013, Marinello co-founded the annual Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Symposium with
New York University School of Professional Studies
The New York University School of Professional Studies (SPS), previously known as the New York University School of Continuing Education, is one of the schools and colleges that compose New York University. Founded in 1934, the school offers un ...
.
See also
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Gurlitt Collection
The Gurlitt Collection (alternatively known as the "Gurlitt Trove", "Gurlitt Hoard", "Munich Art Hoard", "Schwabing Art Trove", "Schwabing Art Find", etc.) was a collection of around 1,500 art works inherited by Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of one ...
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Art theft
Art theft, sometimes called art napping, is the stealing of paintings, sculptures, or other forms of visual art from galleries, museums or other public and private locations. Stolen art is often resold or used by criminals as collateral to ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
The Artive Database Art Recovery International
Companies based in Venice
Database companies
Italian companies established in 2013