Lost artworks

Lost artworks are original pieces of art that credible sources indicate once existed but that cannot be accounted for in museums or private collections or are known to have been destroyed deliberately or accidentally or neglected through ignorance and lack of connoisseurship.

Research and recovery efforts
The Art Loss Register is a commercial computerized international database which captures information about lost and stolen art, antiques and collectables. It is operated by a commercial company based in London.

In the U.S., the FBI maintains the National Stolen Art File, "a database of stolen art and cultural property. Stolen objects are submitted for entry to the NSAF by law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad."

A number of search and recovery efforts were created in response to major loss events, notably:
 * Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program ("Monuments Men"), 1943–1946
 * Bureau of Revindication and Damages (Poland), operated from 1945 to 1951
 * Bureau of the Government Representative for Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad, 1991-

Chronology of notable loss events

 * Rhodes earthquake, 226 BCE
 * First Mithridatic War
 * Sack of Athens, 1 March 86 BCE
 * Antikythera shipwreck, 86-50 BCE
 * Lauseion fire, 475
 * Nika riots, 13 January 532-
 * Byzantine Iconoclasm
 * Iconoclasm of Leo III, 726-741
 * Second Byzantine Iconoclasm, 814-842
 * Jin–Song Wars, 1125–1234
 * Jingkang Incident (Sack of Kaifeng), 10 January 1126-
 * Fourth Crusade, 1202–1204
 * Sack of Constantinople, 12–15 April 1204
 * Bonfires of the vanities, 1492–1497
 * Bonfire of the vanities, Florence, 1492
 * Bonfire of the vanities, Florence, 7 February 1497
 * Palazzo Bentivoglio destruction, 1507
 * Iconoclastic Fury, 1522–1599
 * Beeldenstorm, 1566
 * "Stille beeldenstorm" of Antwerp, 1581
 * Doge's Palace fire, 1576
 * El Pardo Palace fire, 1604
 * Russo-Swedish Deluge 1648-1667
 * Destruction of the Commonwealth
 * Bombardment of Brussels, 13–15 August 1695
 * Brussels Town Hall fire, 13–15 August 1695
 * Palace of Whitehall fire, 4 January 1698
 * André-Charles Boulle workshop fire, 30 August 1720
 * Coudenberg Palace fire, 3 February 1731
 * Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire, 24 December 1734
 * Kroměříž Palace fire, March 1752
 * Lisbon earthquake and tsunami, 1 November 1755
 * Ribeira Palace destruction
 * Vrouw Maria sinking, 9 October 1771
 * French Revolution, 1789–1799
 * Napoleonic looting of art, 1794-1814
 * Elgin Marbles removal, 1801–1805
 * Exton Old Park fire, 1810
 * Belvoir Castle fire, 1816
 * Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura fire, 1823
 * Burning of Parliament, 16 October 1834
 * Palais-Royal looting, 21–22 February 1848
 * Old Summer Palace destruction, 18–21 October 1861
 * Museum Boymans fire, 1864
 * Paris Commune, 18 March-28 May 1871
 * Hôtel de Ville fire, May 1871
 * Tuileries Palace fire, 23 May 1871
 * Holker Hall fire, 1871
 * Great Boston Fire of 1872
 * Bath House fire, 31 January 1873
 * Pantechnicon warehouse fire, London, 13–14 February 1874
 * Benin City sacking, 9 February 1897-
 * San Francisco Earthquake, April 18, 1906
 * Messina earthquake, 28 December 1908
 * Mona Lisa theft and vandalism, 21 August 1911
 * World War I, 28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918
 * Russian Revolution and post-revolution losses, 1917-1920s
 * Treasures for Tractors, 1920s
 * Thames flood (Tate Gallery flood), 7 January 1928
 * Glaspalast fire, 6 June 1931
 * Nazi plunder, 1933–1945
 * Berlin Fire Department art burning, 20 March 1939
 * Frey seizures (1939-1942)
 * Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce seizures, 1940–1945
 * Mühlmann Agency seizures, 1939–1945
 * Einsatzgruppen unit seizures, 1939–1945
 * SS-Ahnenerbe unit seizures, 1939–1945
 * Ghent Altarpiece panels theft, 10 April 1934
 * Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939
 * World War II, 1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945
 * Gosford House fire, 1940
 * Castle Howard fire, 9 November 1940
 * The Blitz, 7 September 1940 – 21 May 1941
 * Bridgewater House bombing, 11 May 1941
 * Bombardment of Manila, December 1941
 * Bombing of Bremen, 1942
 * Palazzo Archinto (Milan) bombing, 1943
 * Battle of Monte Cassino, 17 January – 18 May 1944
 * Ovetari Chapel bombing, 11 March 1944
 * Destruction of Warsaw, 1944–45
 * Royal Castle, Warsaw explosion
 * Bombing of Dresden, February 1945
 * Battle of Manila, 3 February – 3 March 1945
 * Schloss Immendorf fire, May 1945
 * Friedrichshain flak tower fire, May 1945
 * Ashiya District air raids, 5–6 August 1945
 * Quedlinburg medieval art theft, 19 April – June 1945
 * Soviet looting, 1939–1945
 * Kronberg Castle looting, 5 November 1945
 * Arno Breker Sculpture Destruction, 1945-
 * Arshile Gorky studio fire, 1946
 * Alfred Stieglitz Gallery theft, 1946
 * Musée de Beaux Arts de Strasbourg fire, 13 August 1947
 * Coleshill House fire, 1952
 * Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) fire, 15 August 1958
 * American Airlines Flight 1 plane crash, 1962
 * Dulwich College Picture Gallery theft, 30 December 1966
 * Izmir Archaeology Museum theft, 24 July 1969
 * Oratory of San Lorenzo theft, October 1969
 * Stephen Hahn Gallery theft, 17 November 1969
 * Montreal Museum of Fine Arts theft, 4 September 1972
 * Musée Albert-André, Bagnols-sur-Cèze, theft, 12 November 1972
 * Invasion of Cyprus church thefts, 1974
 * Russborough House art theft #1, 1974
 * Palais des Papes Picasso theft, 31 January 1976
 * Corridart installation destruction, Montreal, 1976
 * Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro fire, 8 July 1978
 * Varig plane disappearance, 30 January 1979
 * L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art theft, 15 April 1983
 * Kunsthaus Zürich incendiary attack, 1985
 * Musée Marmottan Monet theft, 28 October 1985
 * Russborough House art theft #2, 1986
 * Neue Nationalgalerie theft, 27 May 1988
 * Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft, 18 March 1990
 * Lincoln's Inn theft, 16 September 1990
 * Houghton Hall theft, 30 September 1992
 * Windsor Castle fire, 20 November 1992
 * Uffizi car bombing, 1993
 * Moderna Museet theft, 8 November 1993
 * The Scream theft, 12 February 1994
 * Kunsthalle Schirn theft (Frankfurt art theft), 28 July 1994
 * Stéphane Breitwieser: 172 museum thefts, 1995–2001
 * Oklahoma City bombing (Murrah Building collapse), 19 April 1995
 * Galleria Ricci Oddi theft, 18 February 1997
 * Louvre theft, 3 May 1998
 * Swissair Flight 111 plane crash, 2 September 1998
 * Ashmolean Museum theft, 31 December 1999
 * Nationalmuseum theft, 22 Dec 2000
 * Russborough House art theft #3, 2001
 * National Museum, Poznań theft, September 2000
 * Sofia Imber Contemporary Art Museum theft, 2000–2002
 * Taliban iconoclasm, March 2001
 * Hermitage Museum theft, 22 March 2001
 * September 11 attacks, 2001
 * Marielle Schwengel's destruction of stolen art, November 2001
 * Frans Hals Museum theft, 25 March 2002
 * Edenhurst Gallery theft, 28 July 2002
 * Russborough House art theft #4, September 2002
 * Van Gogh Museum theft, 8 December 2002
 * 2003 Iraq War
 * National Museum of Iraq thefts, 8–12 April 2003
 * Kunsthistorisches Museum theft, 11 May 2003
 * Drumlanrig Castle theft, 27 August 2003
 * Momart fire, 24 May 2004
 * Santo Spirito in Sassia Hospital theft, 31 July 2004
 * Munch Museum theft, 22 August 2004
 * Neumann Foundation theft, 27 October 2004
 * Victoria and Albert Museum theft, 29 December 2004
 * Westfries Museum theft, 9 January 2005
 * Henry Moore Foundation theft, 15 December 2005
 * Strindberg Museum theft, 15 February 2006
 * Museu da Chácara do Céu, Rio de Janeiro theft, 24 February 2006
 * São Paulo Museum of Art theft, 20 December 2007
 * Foundation E.G. Bührle theft, 10 February 2008
 * Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo theft, 12 June 2008
 * Hélio Oiticica fire, 16 October 2009
 * Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris theft, 10 May 2010
 * Dulwich Park theft, 20 December 2011
 * Kunsthal Art theft, 16 October 2012
 * Clandon House fire, 29 April 2015
 * National Museum of Brazil fire, 2 September 2018
 * 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
 * Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum destruction, February 2022

Chronology of notable find events

 * 2012 Discovery of the Gurlitt Collection