Founded in 2006 in response to dramatic increases in art valuations and a corresponding increase in “grab and run” theft, Art Guard has been working with a wide array of institutions, facilities and private collectors around the world. We’ve been at the forefront of this industry and we’ve seen customers’ expectations change, as well as security companies we work with attempting to …
Opportunities with Changes in the Market
The home security market has, for years, been stuck in the same groove. Modest gains have been made in growing beyond the 22-23% penetration of households with standard wired and RF wireless perimeter/intrusion systems. With home automation and the prospects that people can actually buy a system from Amazon and install it themselves all bets would appear to be off. …
Thoughts on the Green Vault Theft
Reports put the theft from the Green Vault museum in Dresden on Nov. 25 at $1.1B. That’s Billion! That makes it by far the largest art theft in modern times. The Gardner heist in 1990 of 14 yet-to-be-recovered masterworks is estimated at a paltry $.5B and, until Green Vault, the largest. Apparently the collection was not insured, which makes any …
The New York Public Library Trusts Art Guard
The NY Public Library recently reached out to Art Guard to provide our unique security solution for many of their most prized treasures. This is an honor and certainly recognition of our museum-level protection for over $1 billion worth of art and other valuables in well-known institutions, such as the Gardner Museum in Boston, Minneapolis Institute of Art, San Francisco’s …
Art Guard’s Technology Recognized in Robb Report Article
We are proud to have our technology singled out in the luxury-lifestyle magazine, Robb Report, in a recent article titled “Forget Panic Rooms and Alarms, State-of-the-Art Security Is Now Insanely High-Tech—and Nearly Invisible”. The Robb Report is a dynamic influencer magazine for high net worth individuals worldwide. Their selection of our MAP technology, which protects valuable assets, is no less …
4 Questions with an Art Collection Security Expert
Unfortunately, art theft happens In 1990, 13 works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Works by renowned artists such as Rembrandt, Degas, and others have never been recovered—and the museum continues to investigate. They are currently offering a $5 million reward for any intel on the recovery of these works in good condition. Security is a major …
Canvass Art Customers About Object-Specific Protection Possibilities
This article was published in the April issue Security Sales & Integration. “I don’t often get granular on specific sensors supported by monitoring centers, but it’s worth it for certain elements of monitoring that have a great need and appear to be underutilized. One type of monitoring that doesn’t get enough attention is objects-specific monitoring. Monitoring External & Internal Threats. Most …
3 Helpful Marketing Tips for Your Next Show
Your next opening should follow a checklist of some obvious and not-so-obvious details. The obvious is having all the necessary materials on hand, such as the artist’s bio, pricing sheet, and guestbook, prepping the artist on talking points and having easily identifiable personnel throughout the gallery to talk about the works. However, for your team to bring to life this …
Alula + Art Guard: Protecting the Priceless
Late at night on March 18, 1990, two thieves dressed as police officers — one of them bold enough to sport a false mustache made of wax — talked their way past security guards at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. After handcuffing the hapless guards, the pair made off with a half-billion-dollars’ worth of paintings by Rembrandt, Degas, …
4 Simple Ways to Protect Your Art
I read about thefts of art and assets on a pretty regular basis from various news feeds, some from museums and galleries and, mostly in Europe and North America. If there’s a common thread it’s that the victims appear to have been completely unaware of the threat. The only logical explanation, as I’ve said before, is that we’re naïve to …