I always wanted to steal a valuable artwork as a kid, and hang it on my wall. I wasn't really into art, and still am not. I wasn't looking for profit. I just wanted to defeat a large system and walk out with something that was "my little secret," that I could look at every morning and think of how I outwitted the system.
Still a thought I have at the back of my head sometimes. Obviously wouldn't do it.
You might be interested in the novel "The Goldfinch". It's pretty relevant to this post, and somewhat relevant to your comment. But it isn't a heist so to speak.
In 2000, Claude Monet's Beach in Pourville was stolen from the National Museum in Poznań, Poland. The police suspected a steal-to-order gang.
Six years later, an unemployed bricklayer was fingerprinted for not paying alimony to his ex-wife. His fingerprints matched those left in the museum, and the police found the painting behind a wardrobe in his apartment. He told the court that he fell in love with the painting when visiting the museum and wanted to have it all to himself[0].
> many high-value art thefts in the past ten to fifteen years has been the potential for stolen works to be used as collateral linked to drug deals.
This is alluded to, twice, but not explained. Is this a form
of money laundering, or a deal at a distance - contraband is
delivered in country A, artwork in country B? I don’t see
how “collateral” plays a part, unless one party “loans” drugs
in exchange for artwork, and the second party pays off the loan and recovers the artwork after selling the drugs onward.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 37.0 ms ] threadStill a thought I have at the back of my head sometimes. Obviously wouldn't do it.
Six years later, an unemployed bricklayer was fingerprinted for not paying alimony to his ex-wife. His fingerprints matched those left in the museum, and the police found the painting behind a wardrobe in his apartment. He told the court that he fell in love with the painting when visiting the museum and wanted to have it all to himself[0].
[0] https://kultura.poznan.pl/mim/kultura/en/news/how-did-beach-...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18855717
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/14/the-french-bur...
This is alluded to, twice, but not explained. Is this a form of money laundering, or a deal at a distance - contraband is delivered in country A, artwork in country B? I don’t see how “collateral” plays a part, unless one party “loans” drugs in exchange for artwork, and the second party pays off the loan and recovers the artwork after selling the drugs onward.