Art has held significant cultural value in different societies throughout human history. The world’s best artists’ works are displayed in national museums, and individual buyers are willing to shell out impossible costs to purchase renowned art for their collections. However, many famous artworks have been stolen. Some were recovered, others have yet to be found, and their whereabouts remain a mystery.
Thanks to advanced technology, there’s an app called The Stolen Art Gallery. It uses a virtual reality (VR) headset to bring you to a gallery of significant artworks that have been stolen or gone missing.
What Is The Stolen Art Gallery?
Many enthusiasts use the Meta Quest 2 VR headset almost daily to exercise using the excellent Supernatural fitness app. Mark Frauenfelder, co-owner of Boing Boing blog, said he also uses it to play Beat Saber and explore Google Street View through Wander.
Mark recently used his Meta Quest 2 to visit The Stolen Art Gallery. It’s a VR exhibit of renowned works of art that were either stolen or have gone missing.
Developed by Compass UOL, the app brought him to the center of a dark circular gallery surrounded by five paintings of Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Cézanne, and Monet.
Using a virtual smartwatch on Mark’s wrist, he could gather each artist’s visage to learn the story behind their painting. The paintings are reproduced in high-resolution. He also said there were no virtual guards around to stop him or ask him to move back.
Overall it was a pleasant and enriching 30-minute experience, Mr.Frauenfelder said. He recommended Quest owners try The Stolen Art Gallery. Those who don’t have Meta Quest 2 can experience it with an iPhone or Android device.
What is Compass UOL and what do they do?
Compass UOL is a tech-driven company that uses digital platform innovation to transform its partners’ business strategies. Developers of the app say it took a team of artists, designers, and architects three months to build the Stolen Art Gallery app. The app features Caravaggio’s Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence. Said painting was stolen from an oratory in Sicily, Italy, on a stormy night in 1969.
Rembrandt’s “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee” work is also in the virtual gallery. The theft took it from the Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990, the biggest art heist in recent years.
Compass UOL described The Stolen Art Gallery as different from any other art gallery. Aside from viewing famous works of art, visitors can also discover the mysteries and beauties accessible today.
The developers say it’s more about immersive social interaction rather than a mere virtual reality environment. Users can also access the app to interact with friends around the art pieces and discuss their impressions. Likewise, they can make sketches and share notes and information about the artist, their work, and their stories.
The Stolen Art Gallery is for the Oculus Quest, iOS, and Android.
The Ten Missing Art Paintings in the World
ICYDK, here is a list of the most-wanted missing paintings in the world, including those featured in The Stolen Art Gallery.
- Poppy Flowers by Vincent Van Gogh
- Le Pigeon aux Petits Pois by Pablo Picasso
- The Concert by Johannes Vermeer
- The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt van Rijn
- Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence by Caravaggio
- The Just Judges by Jan van Eyck
- Portrait of a Young Man by Raphael
- Charing Cross Bridge, London by Claude Monet
- Reading Girl in White and Yellow by Henri Matisse
- Francis Bacon by Lucian Freud
