The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting (1978) movie

The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting is a 1978 movie by director Paul Ruiz. According to the DVD package blurb, "A bumbling art collect attempts to reconstruct the content of a painting missing from a series of seven painted 100years earlier by an eccentric artist."

The movie is adapted from a novel of the same name by Pierre Klossowski.

The Rembrandt Affair (2010) novel

Daniel Silva's 2010 novel The Rembrandt Affair features once again his art restorer-sleuth Gabriel Allon, this time, as the time suggests, on the trail of a stolen, priceless and deadly Rembrandt painting.

In addition to scenes inside art galleries (public and private), there is also at least one depiction of an archivist, "a tall man in his early forties with reddish blond hair" who worked in the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam. The scene between Gabriel Allon and him is on p. 83-85 (hardcover). On p. 172 (hardcover) there is also a reference to the "archives of Argentina's Immigration Office."

The Bellini Madonna

Original title: The Bellini Madonna
Author: Lowry, Elizabeth.
Publisher: New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009.
A debut novel, this novel's protagonist, down-and-out art historian Thomas Lynch, does not sound very likeable. He's on a quest for a vanished painting of the Madonna by the Italian artist Giovanni Bellini and ends up at the home of, so he believes, its last owner.

The Illuminator

Original title: The Illuminator
Author: Vantrease, Brenda Rickman
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2005
Novel about a 14th century (medieval) manuscript illuminator.

The Lost Van Gogh

Original Novel Title: The Lost Van Gogh

Author: A.J. Zerries

Publisher: New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2006 (hardcover); New York: Tor Books, April 2007 (paperback)

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A long missing Vincent van Gogh painting arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art by courier from Argentia and thereby hangs this suspense thriller.

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Leonardo's Swans: A Novel

Original Novel Title: Leonardo's Swans: A Novel
Author: Karen Essex
Publisher: New York: Doubleday, January 2006 (hardcover); Anchor, January 2007 (paperback)

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This work depicts the time the artist-inventor Leonardo da Vinci spent under the patronage of the Duke of Milan, Italy.

The Audubon Quartet

Original Novel Title: The Audubon Quartet
Author: Ray Sipherd

Publisher: New York: St. Martin's Press, May 1998 (hardcover); Worldwide Library, May 1999 (paperback)

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A murder mystery surrounding the purchase by a millionaire of four original paintings by 19th century American wildlife artist John James Audubon. The paintings are declared forgeries by a critic when they are first viewed at a gallery following their sale. The critic ends up dead and artist and part-time private investigator Jonathan Wilder tracks down the killer.

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Masterpiece

Original Novel Title: Masterpiece
Author: Miranda Glover
Publisher: London: Bantam Press, 2005 (hardcover)

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Performance artist Esther Glass sells herself at auction. According to the dust jacket blurb, the novel "gives us rare access and insight into the workings of the contemporary art scene...."