This is one of the very best true crime books I’ve read in years. I should probably have gotten the Kindle version to go with it but it seemed strong on its own, the reviews didn’t talk about pictures and I didn’t see a Notes section in the sample at Amazon. But I was a bit hasty because in a review I read later I saw there was a photo insert placed in the center of the book should have gotten the Kindle version,
The Art Thief:
A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
by Michael Finkel
2023 / Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini,5h 39m
Rating 9/ true crime
The author, Michael Finkel wrote The Stranger in the Woods which I read back in 2017 and my review is at the link.
So this tale – in 1975, the 24-year old Frenchman Stéphane Breitwieser, started stealing pieces of art from museums and galleries and antique shops. A short time later his girlfriend, Anne-Catherine Kleinklauss started coming with him to stand look-out and keep an eye on things.
Breitwiser was good at his craft – it wasn’t a trade because he was never in it for anything other than love of the aesthetics. He wanted thesis pieces for the room he got free at his mother’s house where he and Catherine lived. And Stéphane knew good art when he saw it – so with the little Swiss Army knife he kept in his pocket he freed the work from its frame, slid it under his coat and the two departed as though they were simply two art lovers enjoying the day. The thing is that they did this thousands of times and their attic storage room was rally quite full with what was said to be 2 BILLION US dollars worth of art His mother knew nothing about it.
a French loves art of many kinds but mostly he loves old art, the kind of art which lives in museums. And he doesn’t want to just visit the art, and he doesn’t want to sell it. Breitwieser wants to take it home to his attic where it can live all the other pieces he’s lifted over the years. He wants to keep it for himself, for his own private appreciation, sharing with his girlfriend Anne-Catherine. of course, in the cramped attic at his mother’s house where they have lived free for several years. And he ended up with about 2 BILLION dollars worth of art? Just he and his girlfriend? Yup – No big “ring” of thieves researching every square inch and every minute of time? Nope.
There may be spoilers here but this was what was in the newspapers and other media back a few years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A9phane_Breitwieser
The writing is very nice and Edoardo Ballerini does a great job as usual (I like him narrating.)
Reviews:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/24/books/the-art-thief-michael-finkel.html
(Good review)
https://lithub.com/the-bizarre-true-story-of-the-worlds-greatest-living-art-thief/
Very interesting read about the book and art thieves by the author of The Art Thief
Becky's Books - 