The Art Thief

difficult to reach at the rear of the box, but just two. The flaw with the security guards is they re human. They get hungry. Most of the day, Breitwieser had observed, there is a guard in each gallery, watching from a chair. Except at lunchtime, when the chairs wait empty as the security staff rotates shorthanded to eat, while those who remain on duty shift from sitting to patrol, dipping in and out of rooms at a predictable pace.

Tourists are the irritating variables. Even at noon there are too many of them, lingering. The more popular rooms in the museum display paintings by Rubens himself, but these pieces are too large to safely steal or too somberly religious for Breitwieser s taste. The gallery with Adam and Eve features items Rubens collected during his lifetime, including marble busts of Roman philosophers, a terracotta sculpture of Hercules, and a scattering of Dutch and Italian oil paintings. The ivory itself, by the German carver Georg Petel, was likely received by Rubens as a gift.

As the tourists circle, Breitwieser positions himself in front of an oil painting and assumes an art-gazing stance. Hands on hips, or arms crossed, or chin cupped. His repertoire includes more than a dozen such poses, all meant to connote serene contemplation, even while his heart is revving with excitement and fear. Anne-Catherine hovers near the gallery s doorway, sometimes standing, sometimes sitting on a bench, always with an air of casual indifference, making sure she has a clear view of the hallway beyond. There are no security cameras in the area. There s only a scattered handful in the whole museum, and he has noted that each has a proper wire; occasionally, in smaller museums, they re fake.

A moment soon comes when the couple is alone in the room. The transformation is explosive, a flame to the fuel, as Breitwieser sheds his studious pose and leaps over the security cordon

profound suspicion."
Jenny McPhee, Air Mail

It is romantic to liken art thieves to Pierce Brosnan s glamorous character in The Thomas Crown Affair. The reality is far less charming. Case in point: Stéphane Breitwieser, one of the most successful art thieves of all time. From roughly 1994 to 2001, Breitwieser executed more than 200 heists. The book s first lesson? Europe has a lot of understaffed historic buildings. The second? Even a kleptomaniac with delusions of grandeur can be made mildly sympathetic in the hands of a skilled writer.
James Tarmy, Bloomberg

"The Art Thief benefits from a built-in ticking clock as time runs out for Breitwieser and his girlfriend. Finkel controls the pace effortlessly, broadening and narrowing focus from the day-to-day of the thieves to the intricate plotting of their thefts and a history of art crime, as well as who steals and why. That combined with mounting dread for the artworks' fate makes for a heart-pounding read.
Maren Longbella, Star Tribune

"Finkel turns his extensive research and interviews into a suspenseful story that reads like a novel. He relates Breitwieser s technique in vivid detail, and then shows us what happened to an estimated $2 billion worth of paintings, sculptures and other works. Finkel explores the relationships between Breitwieser and the women in his life, along with interesting bits of art history. A true-crime thriller that s a work of art."
Suzanne Perez, KMUW Wichita

"Finkel has crafted The Art Thief with finesse and élan. He tells his tale of obsessive desires and ornate objects in measured and unadorned prose; employs a supple structure that separates the multiple threads of the tale while also exploring their weave; and advances the linear plot with narrative strategies that not only anticipate its foregone conclusion without giving it away, but also incorporate into the unfolding events his retrospective analyses of them....[Finkel] manages point of view with deftness and purpose....The Art Thief...morphs from an entertaining caper story into a claustrophobic study in pathology...An absorbing but disquieting read."
Charles Caramello, Washington Independent Review of Books

This is an absorbing and astonishing portrait of a fascinating and complicated character a riveting story of obsession and misplaced brilliance.
Kirk Wallace Johnson, best-selling author of The Feather Thief and The Fishermen and the Dragon

"In this masterful true crime account, Finkel traces the fascinating exploits of Stéphane Breitwieser, a French art thief who stole more than 200 artworks...turning his mother s attic into a glittering trove of oil paintings, silver vessels, and antique weaponry....Drawing on art theory and Breitwieser s psychology reports, Finkel speculates on his subject s addiction to beauty....It s a riveting ride."
Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The tale of a strong candidate for the title of 'most prolific art thief ever....' Finkel s play-by-play of each theft has the pacing and atmosphere of a good suspense tale....The author describes each acquisition as well as Breitwieser's simple but effective methods....Finkel s extensive research, survey of art history, and hours of interviews with his subject combine for a compelling read."
Kirkus

"A riveting ride....An engrossing true crime narrative....Obsessive crime, dangerous beauty, ill-fated love: The Art Thief is the stuff of noir fiction, made all the more compelling and audacious for its authenticity."
BookPage

"From the opening chapter, Finkel s tight prose heightens the drama of each theft, as Breitweiser and his girlfriend Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus, who serves as his lookout, enter Belgium s Rubens House amid visitors and guards....A fascinating read. Finkel will have art history and true crime lovers obsessively turning the pages of this suspenseful, smartly written work until its shocking conclusion."
Library Journal

"The Art Thief is both comprehensive and completely absorbing. It will have you wondering, as judges and juries did, if the defendant is a career criminal or simply an aesthete."
Lorraine W. Shanley, BookReporter