Michael Finkel’s new book opens in the middle of the action, with an art thief and his girlfriend at a museum in Antwerp, Belgium. Stephane Breitwieser makes off with a masterpiece that day — an ivory sculpture of Adam and Eve that he calls “the most beautiful object I have ever seen.” Breitwieser takes the statue home to admire it, and Finkel launches into another fascinating tale of a criminal with bizarre motives.
Back in 2017, Finkel brought us “The Stranger in the Woods,” a story of a man who lived alone in the Maine wilderness for nearly three decades, pilfering food and supplies from nearby cottages. This summer, the author released “The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession.” In this expansion of an article he wrote for GQ, Finkel relates the story of Breitwieser and his girlfriend, Anne-Catherine, who served as lookout on most of his thefts.
Unlike most art thieves, Breitwieser doesn’t trade stolen goods for money. Rather, he brings them back to his tiny apartment in the attic of his mother’s house, and he lives among the masterworks. He refers to himself as an “art liberator.” Over eight years, he swipes nearly 300 artworks from European museums, before his hubris finally does him in.
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.
