Join us for the next Curated Conversations, a Masterworks Lecture Series, with Sara Angel on Thursday, February 20 from 5:30 – 7pm.

Stealing the Show: Crime in the Contemporary Art World

The international art world is the biggest unregulated market apart from illicit drug trafficking and a very dangerous place, populated by a multitude of unscrupulous figures. In her talk Stealing the Show art crime expert Dr Sara Angel will look at numerous cultural felonies to consider theirs motivations and implications in a global context. She will discuss a range of illegal art-related action—including museum thefts, vandalism, looting, smuggling, copyright infringements, frauds and forgeries—and analyze the negotiations through which some activities in the art world are criminalized while others are deemed unethical but legal.

Dr Angel will address the world of art crime through specific case studies to consider both the causes that have brought them about, as well as the ramifications they leave behind.

Finally, Stealing the Show will highlight representations of art crimes in popular culture where it has enjoyed a longstanding and prominent position, at times often making illicit acts seem exciting, even glamorous. 

Bio for Sara Angel, CM, PhD

Sara Angel teaches courses on both Nazi-era art restitution as well as art crime at York University, Toronto, where she is an adjunct professor. Angel’s doctoral dissertation was on the restitution of Montreal art dealer Max Stern’s Nazi-looted art. Angel has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University, the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Israel Museum.

Dr Angel is the Founder, Executive Director and Publisher of the Art Canada Institute (ACI). She launched it in 2013 to democratize the country’s visual culture for a diverse, multi-vocal, twenty-first century audience, and to make it available to all, regardless of one’s proximity or access to a bricks-and-mortar museum or knowledge of the subject. Today, ACI is a national institution and the leading digital initiative in Canadian art research, education, and promotion, which makes knowledge on the subject available to all free-of-charge.

In 2024, Angel received the Order of Canada in recognition of her contribution to the Canadian art world. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, where she received a Trudeau Doctoral Scholarship, the most prestigious award of its kind in Canada, given to support innovative ideas that help solve issues of critical importance. She has been an arts commentator for CBC and writes for publications including Maclean’s, ArtNews, The Walrus, and the Globe and Mail. Dr Angel lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.

Date: Thursday, February 20 from 5:30 – 7pm
Entry: free for members | $20 for non-members

Fireside Chat at Tucker’s Point with Dr. Sara Angel

In addition, Tucker’s Point will host a fireside chat at The Grille Room on Saturday, February 22nd from 5:00 – 6:30pm, where Angel will be in conversation with Masterworks’ Curatorial Researcher Dr. Sara Thom.

Entry to the event is complimentary, drinks for purchase and bar snacks will be provided.

RSVP sydney.wallace@rosewoodhotels.com