Sept. 27 Book Rap focuses on stolen art

Gary Vikan, who led Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum for nearly two decades, discusses his memoir, Sacred and Stolen: Confessions of a Museum Director, at a National Press Club Book Rap on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the NPC's Conference Rooms.

Tickets are $5 for Press Club members and $10 for the public. This event is a fundraiser for the nonprofit National Press Club Journalism Institute. Tickets can be purchased online. Books can be purchased online at the same time as tickets or at the event. No outside books or memorabilia are permitted.

Many of the treasures adorning museum walls are either stolen or forged, according to Vikan. He has witnessed firsthand the hustle, the shady dealings, the bold-faced forgeries and outright thefts that have placed prized possessions in art museums -- only to have them once again disappear, either back to their rightful owners or stuffed into the attic as forgeries.

According to Newsweek, the Department of Justice and UNESCO report art crime as the world’s third highest-grossing illegal trade during the last 40 years, after drugs and weapons. In Sacred and Stolen, Vikan details his own experiences with this sordid world of illicit activity.