SOURCE: OverstockArt.com
February 26, 2008 09:17 ET
Zurich Art Robbery Prompts Art Lovers to Seek Quality Reproductions
WICHITA, KS--(Marketwire - February 26, 2008) - A robbery of paintings by Cézanne, Van Gogh,
Degas and Monet at a Zurich museum earlier this month has prompted
thousands of art enthusiasts to start searching online for reproductions of
the stolen works, presumably because the paintings will now never be on
display to the public anywhere again.
OverstockArt.com, a
Wichita-based company, has recently reported thousands of hits to its
website looking for the missing art pieces, one of which, Cézanne's Boy in a Red
Waistcoat, sold out less than two days after the robbery.
"It's interesting that we're seeing buyers come in so quickly looking for
reproductions of these stolen paintings after a robbery like this," said
Amitai Sasson, marketing director for OverstockArt.com. "We haven't sold
many Cézannes lately, but now we're getting a ton of interest."
Ironically, for OverstockArt, who specializes in making exact replicas of
master works by major artists such as Vincent Van Gogh
and Claude Monet for
art lovers around the globe, a tragic incident like this month's heist can
mean big business. Thankfully, police have recovered two of the stolen
works.
"It's nice to have the business, but as art enthusiasts, we are certainly
happy that at least some of the works were recovered," Sasson said.