{"id":98254,"date":"2023-09-25T00:11:20","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T00:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turbocelebrity.com\/?p=98254"},"modified":"2023-09-25T00:11:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T00:11:20","slug":"thief-broke-into-la-gallery-to-steal-ancient-art-worth-1-5million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turbocelebrity.com\/world-news\/thief-broke-into-la-gallery-to-steal-ancient-art-worth-1-5million\/","title":{"rendered":"Thief broke into LA gallery to steal ancient art worth $1.5MILLION"},"content":{"rendered":"
A thief slipped into a ritzy Los Angeles art gallery to steal an ancient statue worth $1.5million – with the daring heist caught on security camera.<\/p>\n
The bronze sculpture depicting a cross-legged Buddha was swiped from the Barakat Gallery in Beverly Grove around 3.45 am on September 18.<\/p>\n
The 250-pound artifact dates back to Japan\u2019s Edo Period, spanning 1603 to 1867, and was believed to have been commissioned for the centerpiece of a temple.<\/p>\n
Footage captured the moment a Budget moving truck pulled up to the driveway gate. The hoodie-wearing driver stepped out, busted open the gate and scurried past the cameras on his way into the gallery. Using a dolly, he moved the statue into truck.<\/p>\n
The entire process took around 25 minutes, according to gallery owner Fayez Barakat.<\/p>\n
‘I prize it so much,’ he said of the statue. ‘I had it in the backyard of my home and when I moved into this gallery, I put it in the backyard of the gallery for everybody to admire and enjoy.’<\/p>\n
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West Hollywood’s Barakat Gallery is down one ancient artifact, as a bronze Buddha statue was stolen on September 18<\/p>\n
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Security footage captured the moment a thief broke open the driveway gate and headed into the gallery, only to return in under 30 minutes towing the sculpture on a dolly<\/p>\n
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The gallery is located in Beverly Grove, a busy shopping and dining destination in Los Angeles<\/p>\n
Barakat Gallery features the largest ancient art collection in the world for sale, with\u00a0other locations in London, Seoul, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
The West Hollywood site opened in January 2017 and features a 7,000-square-foot showroom spread across two stories. The gallery sells a\u00a0myriad of artifacts ranging from sculptures to jewelry plus a library with a selection of texts related to history, art and anthropology.<\/p>\n
But the stolen sculpture was precious, as Barakat said he acquired it over 55 years ago and there is no other artifact like it in the world.<\/p>\n
Gallery director Paul Henderson described it as the ‘prize piece’ out of nearly 200 pieces in the collection.<\/p>\n
‘It\u2019s four feet tall, it\u2019s hollow cast bronze and it\u2019s a stunning piece,’ he told KTLA 5. ‘It\u2019s really aesthetically arresting and it\u2019s shocking to see something like this go missing.’<\/p>\n
The theft is the first Henderson has experienced after working at the gallery for over a decade.<\/p>\n
He suspected the ancient artifact would be virtually impossible to sell without getting caught.<\/p>\n
‘You can\u2019t go on the market. You can\u2019t take it to a pawn shop and sell it for a few thousand dollars, it\u2019s just not possible,’ he said.<\/p>\n
‘It\u2019s like a museum heist type thing where, what are you going to do with this object right now? We\u2019re all very curious and really puzzled, to be honest.’<\/p>\n
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Gallery owner Fayez Barakat says he is ‘heartbroken,’ as the piece is one of a kind<\/p>\n
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The gallery specializes in ancient artifacts and has around 200 items in its collection<\/p>\n
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The statue is valued at $1.5million and was acquired 55 years ago. Gallery director Paul Henderson describes it as the ‘prize piece’<\/p>\n
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Barakat Gallery is a family tradition that started over a century ago. The Barakats were artifact dealers in the Middle East who expanded their business worldwide<\/p>\n
Considering all possible outcomes, Barakat expressed fear that the thief might melt the centuries-old statue down for bronze.<\/p>\n
‘I’m heartbroken,’ the gallery owner said.<\/p>\n
‘Whoever stole it, maybe that person understood the value. Probably they commissioned somebody, a thief of some kind, to just go ahead and steal it.’<\/p>\n
Barakat is a fifth-generation art dealer with a family legacy stretching back 125 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Barakat family historically sold artifacts in the Middle East. To account for a growing collection, they opened their first gallery in Jerusalem in the 1950s and have since expanded to other cities across the globe.<\/p>\n
Every item at Barakat is legally excavated and recorded, and advertised as ‘museum-quality.’<\/p>\n
The owner hopes the thief will be found soon and is offering a reward to anyone who returns the sculpture. No arrests have been made.<\/p>\n
The Edo period one of richest in terms of Japanese art. One of the most recognizable pieces from this era is\u00a0The Great Wave off Kanagawa, a woodblock print by famed artist\u00a0Katsushika Hokusai.<\/p>\n
It depicts a cresting wave with three boats navigating the rough waters. A print of the work, originally titled\u00a0Under the Wave off Kanagawa,\u00a0sold at auction for nearly $3million last year.<\/p>\n
Christie’s, the auction house that sold the piece, is putting a complete set of another 46 prints by the same artist up for sale next March.<\/p>\n
The auction house said it expects the prints, which date back to the 19th century, to bring in an amount ‘in the millions.’<\/p>\n