From artnapping for big money to small change for seasoned criminals: why thieves target art

“The art theft of the century” is how Sunday’s robbery at the Louvre is being described. Comparisons with the movies Ocean’s Eleven and Lupin are not far off, and you can be sure that this heist – in broad daylight at one of the world’s most famous museums – will be made into a film one day.

According to the authorities, thieves made off with eight items, including a jewelled headband, necklaces, earrings and brooches. All are from the 19th century and once belonged to French royalty or imperial rulers.

For Dutch art detective Arthur Brand, there is no doubt the thieves were professionals. “You don’t just rob the Louvre. These are people who have done this before,” he says. “They probably have a criminal record and are known to the police. Whichever way you look at it, they were inside for four minutes and stole the French crown jewels. That’s really something...”

Such thieves don’t act rashly, he points out. They come to scout the place out first. “How many doors are there, how thick is the glass in the display cases? If they realise there are too many doors or that the glass is too thick, they’ll give up, because they know the police will be there within minutes.”

Brand therefore believes the moment was chosen very deliberately. “They saw that renovations were under way and thought: ‘This is the moment. If we go in now as workmen, we might have a few seconds’ head start.’ What’s more, it’s Sunday morning. Not many police officers are working, and everyone has to be directed outside. In that chaos, it’s a little easier to get away.”

Art theft is not a new phenomenon. “Organised crime is now targeting art objects, museums have become a target,” the French Culture Minister said on Sunday.

Janpiet Callens was an investigator for many years with the now defunct Art Crime Unit of Belgium’s federal police. “In our country, it actually happens relatively little compared to other countries,” he says.

Of course, there are examples. In 1997, two works including a Van Gogh were stolen from the KMSKA in Antwerp. The paintings were later found in a van. The Magritte Museum also fell victim to thieves in 2009: the surrealist’s Olympia was stolen and only reappeared two years later. One possible suspect was Khalid El Bakraoui, one of the suicide bombers at Maalbeek metro station in the terrorist attacks of March 2016.

In 2013, a dozen works, including one by James Ensor, were stolen from the Van Buuren House in Uccle. There were lengthy negotiations, but the works have still not been found.

What makes art so attractive to criminals? The most obvious reason is the big money that can be made.

“What you often see are opportunistic thieves who steal a painting and think they will find a buyer for it,” says Callens. “Then they discover they can’t do anything with it. It’s hot property, nobody will touch it. Sometimes these works are destroyed because the police are on the trail of the thieves, in other cases they serve as collateral for the criminal underworld.”

The sale of stolen paintings has declined in recent years, in part due to the increase in private databases online. If items are too well known, they’re no longer saleable and not worth stealing. In the past 10 to 15 years, thieves have shifted their focus to two types of items: Chinese porcelain, and gold, silver and diamonds.

“The price of gold is high,” says Callens. “Gold and silver can be melted down, and diamonds can be removed from jewellery, possibly polished a little, and then sold. After melting it down, you simply have gold, silver or diamonds in your hands.”

In any case, the objects are irretrievably lost. “In that respect, it is better to steal a painting, because at least they have to keep it intact," says Callens. “A painting remains a painting forever; it is unique and everyone recognises that. If a few loose diamonds are sold in six months’ time, who is going to make the connection with the museum robbery?”

In line with the big money gains is “artnapping” – the holding of artworks for ransom. “Negotiations take place with the insurance company to return it for about a tenth of its real value,” says Callens.

Another possibility is that stolen works are used by seasoned criminals as bargaining chips or collateral. For example, there is the story that drug criminal Flor Bressers got hold of the stolen artwork Two Laughing Boys by Frans Hals – worth €15 million – in order to ransom his wife if necessary.

According to the Gazet van Antwerpen, a proposal was made but the public prosecutor’s office did not accept it. Bressers denies the story. The artwork remains missing to this day.

A Van Gogh painting was also once the subject of intense negotiations. In March 2020, The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring was stolen from the Singer Laren Museum in the Netherlands. It ended up with a criminal organisation, which wanted to return it in exchange for a reduced sentence. Police rejected their demands and eventually got the painting back by other means.

Meanwhile, France is holding its breath: will the jewels be found or not? The statistics do not look good. Callens estimates that barely 5 to 10 per cent of art thefts are solved and the items recovered.

“It’s a race against time,” says Brand. “The thieves will be caught. The sooner they are, the better the chance that the police will find the items.”