After reading a very long, fictional account the theft of one piece of art, I decided to follow it up with a short, non-fiction account of one of the most prolific art thieves of all time.
Stephane Breitweiser committed around 200 thefts from museums around the world. With his girlfriend alongside to keep watch, he pulled off incredibly daring heists, carefully scouting locations, security systems, and the behavior of museum guards. But the most interesting aspect of the story isn’t how Breitweiser pulled off his many acts of thievery, it’s what he did with the ill-gotten goods. He kept them. He kept them in the attic of his mother’s house, where he still lived himself, because he had no real employment to speak of. Yep, a sparsely-employed mama’s boy ended up surrounded by nearly $2 billion dollars worth of paintings, carvings, statues, and other works of art.
Finkel occasionally falls prey to romanticizing Breitweiser’s “collecting” habit, but by the time the authorities have caught on to his act, Finkel drops the pretense and soberly reports on the arrests, trials, and imprisonments that befell Breitweiser over the next decades. And the tragic fate of much of the purloined art casts a shadow over any fun to be had at the idea of a man stealing masterpieces not to sell but to keep.
This is a very slight book, but it tells an interesting story in an entertaining fashion.