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An unusual museum heist: A man smuggled a painting into the building

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

This week, the world learned of a security breach at an art museum in Germany, but not the kind you might expect. In fact, there was more art in the museum after the incident than there was before.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

That's right. The scene of the crime was the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. According to a local paper, the culprit was a 51-year-old service technician at the museum who also happens to be an artist.

SHAPIRO: Well, back in February, while the museum was closed, he smuggled in one of his own pieces, a 2-by-4-foot painting, and he hung it up in the museum's modern art collection.

CHANG: A museum spokesperson told the Guardian that staff spotted the new artwork shortly after opening, but they decided to leave the painting up all day before taking it down that night.

SHAPIRO: Now, if you're wondering, the museum has not described what the painting depicted, but the spokesperson did say, quote, "we did not receive any positive feedback on the addition from visitors to the gallery."

CHANG: (Laughter) The local paper says the employee was let go but faces no major charges other than possible property damage for the two small holes he drilled in the wall.

(SOUNDBITE OF JAY DEE AND J DILLA SONG, "THINK TWICE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Michael Levitt
Michael Levitt is a news assistant for All Things Considered who is based in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Political Science. Before coming to NPR, Levitt worked in the solar energy industry and for the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C. He has also travelled extensively in the Middle East and speaks Arabic.
Christopher Intagliata is an editor at All Things Considered, where he writes news and edits interviews with politicians, musicians, restaurant owners, scientists and many of the other voices heard on the air.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.