Broadcast: Art Crime – True Crime meets Culture | 13.08.2024 | 06:00 | by Steenbuck, Torben
43 Min
| Available until 13.08.2026
A theft in Berlin: Our art crime story begins with a theft that is not noticed at first. In 1988, the “Portrait of Francis Bacon”, painted by Lucian Freud, is stolen from the new National Gallery in Berlin. There are no traces and no witnesses to the crime. The disappearance of a painting that is so valuable to Great Britain develops into one of the biggest cold cases in the history of art true crime, but only a few people in Germany know about it today. The search for the painting will have a lasting impact on the lives of some people, not least our hosts.
Here you can see the stolen picture on a wanted poster:
You can reach us at: kunstverbrechen@ndr.de
Our podcast tip in this episode: Bayern 3 True Crime,
And another podcast tip: Am Schlick,
“Art Crime – The Search for Bacon’s Head” is a true crime documentary podcast from NDR Kultur. In this season of Art Crime, we are devoting ourselves to a single case: the mysterious theft of “The Portrait of Francis Bacon”. Two of the most important painters of the 20th century play a role: Lucian Freud – he painted the picture we are looking for. And his friend, the painter Francis Bacon, sat as the model. The painting tells the story of an intense friendship between artists and is considered an immeasurable art treasure of the United Kingdom and the entire art world. It was stolen on May 27, 1988 from the New National Gallery in Berlin. We will take you on our long search for the painting, which has been missing for over 35 years. It will be an exciting journey between Berlin, London, Hamburg and other places – and also a journey into the past. You will find out what happens behind the scenes of an international art theft. We will delve deep into the research with you, we will track down witnesses and speak to the people who are still hurt by the loss of the picture.
