German Art Collection Stolen in China

One of the most highly valued art collections from Germany has been stolen while on display in China. The collection owned by a woman who had obtained multiple works from Renate Graf, Markus Lüpertz and Anselm Kiefer. Its total estimated value is more than €300 million, with reports indicating that some paintings have been sold on the black market. The German Collector allowed these pieces to be on loan, moving from location to location in China. Several media officials reported on this news when Maria Chen-Tu, the German Woman owning this collection, informed them that her collection had been stolen. Maria is of Taiwanese Descent, and she noted that this collection was loaned to a male businessman for sale for over ten years.

Maria Chen-Tu knows the criminal behind the stolen arts, as she claims it’s the very businessman that took the art collection loan. Chinese laws stipulate he doesn’t have to return any imported items and that once in his possession, are legally his property. Maria, after several exhibitions and zero sales, asked that her collection be relocated to her Hong Kong Depot. However, the business didn’t comply with her requests and ignored all her deadlines. Ma Yue, the identified businessman for this stolen art collection, started to block her contact methods. For the last two months, he hasn’t been available to Maria Chen-Tu. There are also rumours that pieces from her art collection are being sold through the online black market. Unfortunately, Chinese Officials have refused to work with Maria Chen-Tu because of her Taiwanese Descent. This didn’t stop Maria Chen-Tu from receiving her justice though.

Ma Yue was tasked with exhibiting this vast collection of artworks for ten years, with works meant to be sold to the highest bidders over this period. After he stole the artwork and Chinese officials didn’t co-operate, Maria contacted the United Nations for assistance. Since then, the culprit has been captured, and he will begin insolvency proceedings starting January 2020. He will have to relocate or repay for the stolen artwork while facing a significant prison sentence.

Mario Chen-Tu spoke to reporters after her public announcement in Beijing. She mentioned that her concern for the fate of these paintings keeps her up every night. These works are hundreds of years old and are most likely being stored improperly. Subsequently, it’s expected that these paintings will be destroyed over a short period. There is little hope that Ma Yue will assist law enforcement with locating the lost collection and that he will face his prison sentence instead.