Mystery as huge $2.1M sculptures vanish from LA warehouse
A sophisticated art heist left a profound sculptor in shock when he discovered two enormous pieces were swiped from his warehouse.
Sir Daniel Winn's two prized sculptures, Quantum Mechanics: Homme, and Icarus Within, were stolen from a warehouse in Anaheim Hills, California, on or around June 14.
The massive sculptures were crafted with bronze and stainless steel. Icarus Within weighs a ton and stands at eight feet tall.
The piece is valued at $350,000, while Quantum Mechanics is worth a massive $1.8 million.
Winn told the Los Angeles Times that moving the sculptures for exhibitions requires a massive operation including a forklift, a dozen men, and a truck.
The heist has also left police dumbfounded, as Anaheim Police Sergeant Matt Sutter admitted to the publication that authorities had little information.
'I have no idea where these sculptures are,' Sutter told the LA Times.
'They could be in somebody's house or in a shipping container somewhere. That's what we're trying to find out.'
The officer added that in his 25 years with the department, he's never seen a burglary of this scale.
'We've had our share of high-end homes that were burglarized, but this type of crime, involving forklifts, trucks, crews and the sheer size of the sculptures is something I can't remember us having before,' he added.
Warehouse workers told authorities that they last saw the sculptures on Saturday and arrived for their shifts the following Monday with the pieces nowhere to be found.
Winn told local NBC affiliate, KABC, that the heist was a targeted attack and was doubtful that the thieves just wanted cash for scrap metal due to the scale of the operation.
The thieves left other artwork and valuables in the warehouse.
Winn is known as a 'blue-chip artist,' meaning he is internationally recognized and his work sells for high values.
The artist came to the US as a child refugee fleeing the Vietnam War. He studied medicine at the University of California in Irvine, before deciding to pursue art.
Winn is also the Board Chairman of The Academy of Fine Art Foundation and was knighted in 2018 for his non-profit work.
He describes his art as Existential Surrealism, exploring themes related to his upbringing as a refugee.
One of the sculptures stolen, Home, was featured in the film Creation in 2022 and was the only unsold work in his Quantum Mechanics series.
Winn was gutted that his work was stolen and is now concerned the sculptures will be sold on the black market.
'These are my children. I have no physical, organic children. Every artwork I create is my child,' he told the LA Times.
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