Welcome to the 221st insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode, we illustrate the problem with stolen art, explaining why million-dollar works fall from Sotheby’s walls to pennies on the black market.
The Allure of an Art Thief is an age-old tale, sold through the seats of box office films, white gloves and illicit prestige. Depicted as a luxurious yet unlawful trade, the appeal is coated in a blanket of crime and cash, painted out to be extremely profitable if successful in evading authorities. The reality, however, is far more grim than portrayed on screen, leading many criminals to become the owners of their priceless works, at the expense of ignorance and a lack of forethought.
For centuries, art theft has been a target of organized crime as the value of one-of-one pieces continues to skyrocket into the hundreds of millions. From Picasso to Monet, between 50,000-100,000 pieces are stolen each year, with nearly 40% taking place in the United Kingdom alone. The majority of these operations transpire in classic household burglaries due to their lower risk, but museum heists are more common than expected.
Besides decades of imprisonment and countless opportunities for failure, for some reason, criminals gravitate towards the art world in search of riches and lore. What’s often overlooked is the infamy that follows esteemed stolen pieces, making the process of actually selling an illicit da Vinci, Kooning or Cézanne nearly impossible. As quoted from Robert Wittman, the head of the FBI’s Art Crime Team, “The true art in art theft is not in the stealing, it’s in the selling,"
So, what do you do with a piece of art that can’t be shown in public, or even hung on a wall? Well, for the most part, nothing. Almost every repossessed work is found in the hands of the thief themself or a relative who’s come to market after their passing. The only successful heists are really those done upon a private collector's request, for those seeking collateral for illegal goods, or for info-based leverage as used in Boston crime circles throughout the 1980s.
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