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With Valentine's Day just around the corner, the romantic in me wanted to dedicate this post to lush, love-themed artwork...and yet, the journalist in me can't resist reporting this headlining news story in the world of art:

NY Times Article, Feb. 11, 2008:
$160 Million in Art Stolen from Zurich Museum

You can click on the links above to read the original story, but apparently, there's a band of art thieves on the loose in Switzerland. Just a few days ago, a team of 3 masked, armed men broke into the Buehrle Collection and relieved it of the 4 famous oil paintings you can see above: Boy in a Red Jacket by Paul Cezanne, Viscount Lepic and His Daughters by Edgar Degas, Poppies Near Vetheuil by Claude Monet and Blossoming Chestnut Branches by Vincent van Gogh. The incident follows on the heels of yet another theft -- 2 Picassos! -- from a nearby cultural center just last week.

Clearly, some crooks out there have good taste! My question is, what on earth will they do with these precious works? I mean, it's not like red flags won't be raised if they try to actually sell them! Who knows though -- maybe these sticky-fingered thieves just happen to love art. They're certainly risking a lot to obtain it.

Speaking of love (you knew I'd find a segue, didn't you?!), it's definitely in the air this week. Have you found the perfect gift to woo your sweetheart with? If you're looking to go the extra mile (i.e. not just flowers and chocolate), be sure to browse our Art of Romance collection for sensual artwork that will inspire your Valentine's romantic side all year round -- like this lush print by Pierre August Cot:

Looks like we have yet another thief on our hands -- Cupid. Clearly, the wiley little guy has stolen both of the young lovers' hearts. ;-)

Enjoy your Valentine's Day!

You remember last week's posting about that tragic art theft from Zurich's Buehrle Collection? Great news! Swiss police have recovered 2 of the 4 famous stolen paintings.

According to a recent BBC article, Monet's Poppies near Vetheuil and Van Gogh's Chestnut in Bloom were found in the back seat of a white car parked (of all places!) outside a local psychiatric hospital. As you might expect, the museum director was extremely pleased to have recovered the paintings, and he's hopeful the others will turn up as well.

In the interim, perhaps you've been wondering why ArtSelect does not offer fine art reproductions of these images on our site? Much as we'd love to offer prints of every single Monet or Van Gogh painting ever created, sometimes it's just not possible, due to estate and museum ownership rights, printing permission, etc.

Having said that, though -- we do have quite sizable collections for both artists in our online gallery. And the good news is, you don't have to steal them to enjoy them on your walls!

Be sure to check out our beautiful selection of Monet titles, like this one:

Poppies at Argentueil
By Monet

And stop by our Van Gogh collection as well:

Branches l'Ammandier en Fleur, 1890
By Vincent van Gogh

See you next week, and may the 2 missing titles reappear!

It's official. According to a recent People Magazine article, the wildly famous teen actress Miley Cyrus, daughter of Country rocker Billy Ray Cyrus, has changed her name to "Miley Ray Cyrus." The actress was originally born "Destiny Hope Cyrus," but her father nicknamed her "Miley" because she was such a "smiley baby." Now, the actress is officially changing her name to "Miley" and adopting "Ray" as a middle name to honor her father.

On TV, Miley is better known as "Hannah Montana," the dual-lived teen diva who goes by "Miley Stewart" by day. Whew! That's a lot of names for one girl! But whether you know her as Miley, Destiny Hope or Hannah, you can have her on your walls today -- whether in a poster, a framed art print, or a texture-glazed Framed Posterz.

Be sure to check out our new Hannah Montana collection!