The Art Thief

by Michael Finkel

Overall: I love a good true crime tale, and The Art Thief falls into an interesting niche: the notorious but non-violent crime.  Stéphane Breitwieser managed to steal hundreds of paintings, sculptures, and historic and decorative objects across Europe – many of them priceless – over eight years.  He never sold any of the items and lived with his mother and girlfriend in a modest home in an unassuming part of France. So what drove these thefts?  Finkel is the first writer Breitwieser agreed to speak with at length, and he did a tremendous amount of additional research to shed some light on both the how and the why of Breitwieser’s crimes, as well as how he eventually got caught.  I would recommend this to anyone who likes heist stories (Ocean’s 11, The Thomas Crown Affair, the documentary This is a Robbery) or who likes true crime but needs a break from murders and serial killers.

Likes: The Art Thief manages to combine reams of evidence (interviews, court transcripts, video footage, photographs) with excellent storytelling.  Although I knew Breitwieser would eventually be caught, I kept avidly turning the pages as the story took several unexpected twists and turns.  Finkel has a knack for descriptive detail, bringing the obscure museums, Breitwieser’s lair, and the objects he stole to life on the page.  The shocking outcome of what happened to the art (don’t Google it before you read!) gives The Art Thief an emotional heft that’s not usually part of a heist story.  The book also does a fantastic job of weaving in psychology, and trying to turn over the rocks on what motivated these crimes.  Ultimately, it concludes that Breitwieser has more in common with book thieves than art thieves – book hoarders, be forewarned!

Dislikes: The tale occasionally becomes a bit repetitive, which is understandable given the number of crimes.  But this is a minor criticism of a fascinating book.

FYI: emotional abuse, abortion, imprisonment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Knopf, for the advance reader copy.  All opinions are my own.