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“Out of all the crimes, I think that art theft is complicated to pull off.”
became interested in the topic of art theft as a result of watching a televison series on USA Network called "White Collar". The premise of the show is that a former art thief helps the Authorities locate missing art pieces. Since this is a television show, we are introduced to a variety characters who learn from each other on a personal level; we see relationship dynamics, get a peak into the motivations for art theft and more.
Watching the show made me curious about the collection of art for collection sake and even more curious of the ramifcations of white collar crime specifically art theft.
For those fans of the action adventure genre there are so many movies about art theft. Like the Pink Panther or Entrapment for instance. We see a group planning how they will pull off their theft. From the movies we see as technology gets more sophiticated, so much investment is needed to be
successful.
In another article it may be interesting to explore the technology and the psychology behind these types of thefts but alas this article is one of a two part series that looks at art that has been stolen.
Out of all the crimes that can be committed I would think that art theft is a complicated theft to pull off. One can assume that a replacement piece needs to be created to stall for time or just to be left in the place of the items that was stolen.
Keeping this in mind, I would assume the next stage of planning would involve someone who is trustworthy and talented enough to create a replacement of a famous piece of art.
It seems that a knowledge of paint, techniques and types of canavas based on a historical knowledge of what was available during that time period is essential as well.
You would think that collecting art for the sake of collecting and the selling it for a profit is a new idea. However the very first documented art theft goes back to the year of 1473. In those days art collections belonged to Aristocrats, but the bulk of the art belonged to religious institutions.
Art was often confiscated during wars but also confiscated as payment for debts.
Art became a high risk currency that circulated within specific circles.
Kind of like today's crypto currency. It has value but only those who trade it understand that and those who trade for it understand as well. Modern crypto currency is not only geared to the wealthy of society though
16 / MAXPIRA LUXURY LIFE / INVESTING: ArtTheft: A Historical Timeline
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