Two sculptures valued at a total of more than $2 million and created by Sir Daniel Winn, the newly appointed art commissioner of John Wayne Airport, were stolen from a secure facility earlier this week.
The first piece of art, titled “Quantum Mechanics: Homme”, is a sculpture valued at $1.8 million and weighing 4,000 pounds, according to Anaheim police spokesman Sgt. Matt Sutter. The steel, bronze and lucite 8-foot-tall creation depicting a winged and horned man represents Winn’s view of universal truth and the meaning of life and was featured in the award-winning short film, “Creation,” in 2022, Winn said.
The second, “Icarus Within,” is a $350,000, 8-foot-tall sculpture depicting the Greek mythological figure of the same name, who legend says fell from the sky after flying too close to the sun and thereby melting the glue of his man-made wings.
The sculpture, Winn explained, represents his struggle to become a successful artist. Winn said that after he dropped out of UC Irvine after his grandmother died, he experienced homelessness before eventually beginning his art career around 35 years ago — and fulfilling a promise he had made to his grandmother to follow his dreams.
The two sculptures recently had been moved to a facility in Anaheim Hills that would become Winn’s new showroom, he said.
The building, described as an unmarked, nondescript commercial site undergoing renovation, did not appear to house valuable artwork.
“Somebody had to know they were there,” Sutter said. “You would never know just walking by.”
Winn said the thieves used a forklift and other construction tools at the site to move the heavy sculptures. Sutter could not confirm the use of a forklift specifically, but said it was probable given the size and weight of the pieces.
“Typically, when we do an installation of this at an exhibition, it takes at least a dozen men to do this with forklifts and trucks,” Winn said. “It’s not easy.”
The exact date of the thefts is not known. However, Sutter said that Winn left and locked the facility on Saturday night, and when he returned Monday morning, the sculptures were gone.
Winn believes the timing of the theft, so soon after the relocation, pointed to a targeted operation. In addition to “Quantum Mechanics: Homme” gaining attention from its role in Creation, “Icarus Within” had just been featured in a biographical movie about Winn’s life, which recently finished principal photography. He had also been appointed to the John Wayne Airport Arts Commission last month, airport spokeswoman AnnaSophia Servin said.
“These two pieces are the two pieces I view that are my legacy that I’m leaving behind,” Winn said. “And it happens to be the two that they targeted.”
Investigators are working the case, Sutter said, and no further details were available.
Thursday was Winn’s 60th birthday, which he spent at his foundry in Commerce working on Quantum Mechanics: Femme, the sister to one of the missing items, and trying to process the loss.
“My birthday wish is that they return it,” Winn said.