Somewhere, £85 million worth of Impressionist artwork stolen from a Swiss museum this week is being hidden away. But how? Undoubtedly these works by the likes of Monet and Van Gogh are instantly recognisable. So where do these paintings actually go?
“The idea that billionaires keep Picassos behind secret screens in their mansions is completely false, a product of Jules Verne and Ian Fleming,” says Charles Hill, an art theft expert and former Scotland Yard detective. “This is normally the work of gangs – often from Eastern Europe – who don’t think it through. They can do very little with such high-profile pieces afterwards. The theft is easy but following up is almost impossible.”
According to Hill, the paintings can’t be sold on, since police will scan the art loss register and auction catalogues; ransoms don’t work because in most countries, such as Britain, paying them is illegal. Instead, the paintings become a kind of currency, to pay off drug debts, for example. They are normally kept close to home – in this case Europe – since it is easier to keep them within the immediate criminal remit, and will often end up collecting dust somewhere, because no one can think what to do with them.
“This case is extremely similar to the 2004 theft of Madonna from Oslo’s Edvard Munch Museum, where the gang also came in with balaclavas, waving pistols all over the place and a group of Kosovan Albanians was found responsible. This lot will most likely be caught,” Hill says.
Unfortunately for the museums, this can take some time. “Police often are not well-acquainted with the art world and employ few specialists,” Hill adds. “And art insurance is a tough business – the gallery’s premiums will almost certainly go up after this, but don’t count on the insurers to recover the work for you.”