Trekking through Europe in search of stories and evidence of art crimes is not a souvenir most people can claim. On a recent trip to Italy and Malta, members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of North Texas were able to become art crime sleuths on a guided tour of the history of art crime, led by Dr. Laura Evans.

Evans is the director of the Art Museum Education Certificate program in the College of Visual Arts and Design at UNT and is considered an expert in the field of art crime: theft, forgeries and vandalism. This fall, her book, “The Atlas of Art Crime,” will be published with Prestel, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Like the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s recent trip through Italy and Malta, the book highlights art crimes around the world.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is a learning program designed for those 50 years old and above. Paying members are able to take advantage of courses, special events, special interest groups, local travel and trips through the university.

Evans had previously led a tour for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute called “Treasures and Thieves” in the spring of 2022, where participants explored the Louvre, the Van Gogh Museum, the Tate Modern and several other galleries. In Amsterdam, Paris and London, Evans shared her knowledge of art crime history.

“I lecture around the world about art crime, but I had never done an overland art crime trip before,” Evans said, “It was a new experience for me and I’m so grateful to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute for that.”

This past May, due to the success of the first tour, Evans embarked on another one through Italy and Malta, called “The Stolen and the Saved,” where the group spent 14 days exploring art crime in Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Matera, Taormina and Valletta.

One of the main focuses of the trip was on Caravaggio, who Evans calls “The Bad Boy of the Baroque.” Participants traced Caravaggio’s path and saw many of his paintings in person while learning about the crimes that he not only committed, but also the ones surrounding his artwork.

“His life was essentially an art crime,” Evans said. “His paintings have been stolen in Sicily and also in Malta. There is perhaps a forgery of a Caravaggio out there in the world right now. On this trip, we talked about these crimes involving Caravaggios. Alongside all of this, we saw Caravaggios in person: in churches and in museums. We also talked about other art crimes: antiquities trafficking in Sicily, the theft of frescoes in Matera and the curse of the stolen items of Pompeii during our time abroad.”

For anyone who might be on the fence about taking a trip like this, Evans encourages them to step out of their comfort zone, even if they’re not particularly interested in art history. She calls the lecturing she does “historical gossiping,” and tries to make it as accessible as possible while also being as passionate as possible about the art, the people and the place.

The tours usually contain a mix of experienced travelers and those who have never traveled before, leading to friendships being born from unlikely circumstances.

“You’re just there to enjoy the ride,” Evans said, “To have an enriching experience in, hopefully, every way possible: mentally, emotionally, physically, even spiritually. I hope that travelers will make new friends from trips like these; with each other, certainly, but also with the art that we see.”

To learn more about the programming at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and to stay up to date on upcoming events and trips, visit the website.

The above story was produced by Community Impact’s Senior Multi Platform Journalist Sierra Rozen with information solely provided by the local business as part of its “sponsored content” purchase through our advertising team.