The Art Thief, the true story of love, crime, and a dangerous obsessionThe Art Thief, the true story of love,crime, and a dangerous obsession, by Michael Finkel, is the story of Stéphane Breitwieser who stole around 239 artworks from 172 European museums between 1995 and 2001. In 2006, I visited a small museum in rural Peru. When I heard that it was recently robbed of some valuable items, I wondered how such a poor town could defend itself. This book shows that I was right to be concerned. Breitwieser generally stayed within a day’s drive, but he still managed to hit over 170 museums in seven countries. Fast read, Breitwieser’s compulsion to steal one more object infected me as I was obsessed with reading one more chapter.
Breitwieser had problematic relationships…
He became estranged from his father
after a divorce. He wanted his art collection to exceed his father’s
collection. However, when he reached this goal, he did not stop.
His mother, Mireille Stengal, and
grandparents enabled him with a regular allowance, forgiveness, and other
support, such as a place to live, a car, and travel funds.
His girlfriend, Anne-Catherine
Kleinklaus, accompanied him and stood watch for many of his robberies.
“Protecting a museum can feel paradoxical because its mission isn’t to conceal valuables, but to share in a way that makes you feel as close to the piece as possible, unencumbered by any security apparatus.”
“Art dealers and auction houses are the worst, says Breitwieser. Every one of them lower than dirt. The historian Pliny the Elder, in the first century AD, described the dishonest tactics of art vendors in imperial Rome, and in September 2000 Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction houses were levied $512 million in fines for cheating buyers and sellers in a price-fixing scheme. Shady people have been peddling bright colors for 2000 years.”
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