The two towering sculptures, including thousands of pounds of bronze and stainless steel, have completed the artist and filmmaker Sir Daniel Winn for more than a year.
They disappeared one weekend.
Police believe that on June 14, at least one thief emanated the sculptures of “Icarus” and “Quantum Mechanics: Homke” from a warehouse in Anaheim Hills, worth $2.1 million. Other artworks and valuables in the warehouse could have been easier to move. The authorities have few details about the robbery.
“Unfortunately, we have little information, but we are investigating,” Anaheim Police Sgt. Matt Sutter said.
The life-size “Quantum Mechanics: Homme” artwork consisting of Lucite, Cronze and stainless steel depicts a man with wings and horns and appears in the 2022 award-winning short film “Creation.” It is worth $1.8 million.
The second Winn work, “Icarus Inside,” is partly based on the sculptor’s escape from a chaotic childhood in Vietnam, is a steel and bronze sculpture that is also 8 feet tall and weighs a ton and is worth $350,000.
Both sculptures were stored in a temporary facility and ended up appearing on Saturday in warehouse workers in Anaheim Hill, according to the Anaheim Police Department.
Both pieces were missing when workers returned to the facility on Monday, according to police.
Winn believes the works may have been stolen by an immoral collector, and art restoration experts suspect the two sculptures will be destroyed for scrap metal.
“Usually, when we do an exhibition, these sculptures take about twelve people and two forklifts to move it and carry a flatbed or truck to carry it,” Winn said. “It's not an easy task.”
Winn told The Times that his anxiety had “passed through the roof” in recent days. Winn is considered Blue chip artistwhich means that his work is highly sought after and has a high monetary value.
The former UC Irving medical student, who was once homeless, changed it from medicine to work of art, said he incorporated fine art, quantum metaphysics and philosophy into his work.
Vietnamese refugees own Winn Slaven Art Museum On rodeo drive Appointment early this month As the Arts Commissioner at John Wayne Airport.
He said his art loss pushed Winn to a dark place.
“These are my kids,” he said of everything about himself. “I don't have physically organic kids. Every piece of art I create is my kid.”
On the seventh time in Winn's Quantum Mechanics series, the only work, the larger of the two sculptures, it explores philosophical concepts, universal truths, and tries to answer a lasting question: Why are we here?
In the last few days of the Vietnam War, the smaller “Icarus” focused on the struggle to immigrate to the United States at around the age of 9. The sculpture is related to Winn's film Chrysalis (based on his memoir), which should premiere this fall.
Winn said the complexity of theft made him suspect that he was the target and that his work might be on the black market.
He said he handed over a list of people who recently asked police about his sculptures.
Anaheim Police Sergeant Sir Stergeant said it was the biggest burglary he has seen in the department in 25 years.
“We already have a large number of high-end homes that have been stolen, but this type of crime involves huge sizes of forklifts, trucks, crew members and sculptures, which I didn't remember before,” Sartre said.
Sartre said investigators are asking businesses near the warehouse for any videos that could help them identify the suspect.
“I don't know where these sculptures are,” Sartre said. “They might be in someone's house or in a transport container somewhere. That's what we're going to find out.”
Chris Marinello, Founder of Dispute Resolution and Art Restoration Services International Art Restorationsaid the sculptures could be discarded metal.
Marinello said scrap codes tear the works into thousands of small pieces to cover up the origins of the metal.
“Unfortunately, criminals aren't that smart, they don't see the artwork, but a multi-million dollar sculpture that is more valuable to them for raw gold like steel and bronze,” Marinello said.
Marinello pointed Two tons of Henry Moore bronze sculptureKnown as a strabismus figure, it was stolen from the Artists Foundation in Hertfordshire, England in 2005.
The work is worth 3 million pounds, but authorities believe it is scrapped at just 1,500 pounds.
“You can't sell sculptures of this size on the market,” Marinello said of Winn's stolen work.
