The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Michael Finkel
One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first century: the story of the world’s most prolific art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser. In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods brings us into Breitwieser’s strange world—unlike most thieves, he never stole for money, keeping all his treasures in a single room where he could admire them. For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. more
240 pages, Hardcover
First published Knopf
4.01
Rating
21365
Ratings
2787
Reviews
Michael Finkel
10 books 1116 followers
Michael Finkel is the author of "The Art Thief," "The Stranger in the Woods," and "True Story," which was adapted into a 2015 motion picture. He has reported from more than 50 countries and written for National Geographic, GQ, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Magazine. He lives with his family in northern Utah and southern France.Community reviews
Dear Goodreaders: Though "The Art Thief" is a short book (just over 200 pages), I worked on the project for more than 11 years, trying to make sure that everything in this wild and unpredictable tale is true - and also, to the best of my abilities, entertaining to read. The art thief himself, Stéphane Breitwieser, granted me dozens of hours of exclusive interviews, and even visited a couple of museums with me. It was a bizarre experience, to say the least, to tour an art museum with one of the world's greatest art thieves. I respect all of the reviews here (well, almost all), and I hope that the art thief's incredible crime spree, and his equally spectacular crash, capture your interest. My time with Breitwieser changed the way I experience museums and absorb works of art, and I expect that the same effects may happen to you as you wind your way through the book. more
The Art Thief is a narrative nonfiction so it reads almost like fiction. But this amazing story is true. Crazy to think that so recently in the past, someone could get away with stealing hundreds of pieces from various museums. Yes, not the big museums, but still. It was surprising to learn that Breitwieser didn’t go in for lots of advance planning. more
The Art Thief by Michael Finkel is True Crime Nonfiction. The Art Thief is a fascinating True Crime story that verges on the unbelievable. Stéphane Breitwieser professed to steal art not for money, but for love, an estimated $2B worth, in the years between 1995 - 2001. What he loved was Fine Art, primarily Renaissance Art and medieval art. Leisurely visits, smartly dressed in upper-end clothes, to museums and galleries throughout Europe with his then-girlfriend Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus would net something of interest. more
My Recommendation This was an incredible true story about the most prolific and brazen art thief in history. Between 1995 and 2001, Stephane Breitiviser is said to have stolen 239 valuable/priceless works of art from 172 museums, cathedrals and castles all over Europe. The author, Michael Finkel, extensively and meticulously researched his life, psychological theories about his mental and emotional state, personality, enablers, police investigations, and court cases. Many involved in the case, including Stephane himself, were interviewed. Stephane considered himself superior to other art thieves as he never stole for profit. more
3. 5Crime works best, not with overpowering force but when nobody knows it’s being committed. This book is about one man’s obsession to possess beauty, but not in the conventional way by paying for it. This man doesn’t have money. He lives in the attic of his mother’s house. more
When Breitwieser is not in bed, he dotes like a butler on the works in his rooms, monitoring temperature and humidity, light and dust. His pieces are kept in better condition, he says, than they were in museums. Lumping him in with the savages is cruel and unfair. Instead of an art thief, Breitwieser prefers to be thought of as an art collector with an unorthodox acquisition style. Or, if you will, he’d like to be called an art liberator. more
The Art Thief is a book about obsession, hoarding, and the insatiable desire to steal precious artifacts. The one aspect that makes this story a bit unique is the fact that the main thief does not take the antiquities to sell; he displays them to admire them in an attic imbedded in a typical suburban neighborhood. Stéphane Breitwieser and his girlfriend stole over 200 items from museums, fairs, auctions, and cathedrals across Europe for nearly a decade. They circumvented authorities by picking up less-known items using only a standard Swiss army knife and a bit of luck. The art they steal is varied. more
2. 5 starsWhile I found the story itself fascinating, and the level of crimes committed and the resultant aftermath rather horrific in their way, several choices made by Finkel kept this from rising above ordinary. A good bit of his nonfiction narrative leans into the overwrought, whether trying to complement or compete with the beauty of the stolen works of art, I'm unsure. The choice of present tense is beyond me — other than the typical gimmicky explanations — the utter relinquishment of control of his own story is nigh on unfathomable. Looking at the book in its entirety, as though it were actually unfolding in time as the book is read, makes no sense either for when the crimes take place or the resultant consequences we know occur. more
The true crime story tells us about Stéphane Breitwieser, a successful thief who stole over 400 pieces from museums, auctions and churches in 7 different countries. He was stealing not for money but for his love of art. The Book has many details and facts and is very interesting and educational. more
Michael Finkel has written one of the more unusual true crime books in producing this tome outlining the criminal career of Stephane Breitwieser, a French man from the Alsace region who has one, possibly two, true loves in his life. His primary love is art, works of art, precious works of art of the primarily 17th century. His second love is the young woman who accompanies him during many of his exploits—a compulsive career of art theft solely for his personal pleasure. In sections that occasionally made me squirm with discomfort, the reader accompanies Stephane on some of his “missions”, for they feel like tasks he is compelled to perform. The author presents this story from multiple perspectives: from that of Stephane Breitwieser, from the views of various psychiatrists and psychologists who have attempted to analyze him and his need for works of art, from the viewpoints of the police departments who eventually discovered and stopped him. more
Rating: 4. 6I'd first learned about the author when viewing the film adaptation of True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa that starred Noah Hill and James Franco. While I've read numerous fiction stories on the subject, the summary captured my attention due to its completely unique premise. Born in 1971, Stephane Breitweiser bonded with his grandfather whose home was furnished with antiques from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As a child, he loved finding artifacts, pottery shards and arrowheads which he kept in his 'blue plastic box'. more
This book is so out of my comfort zone I don't even know where to begin. First of all - the format. Usually when I read non-fiction books I love huge bibliography with references clearly marked in the text. This one misses even a proper bibliography but I found it strangely fitting since the whole book feels very chatty - like a podcast that was written down and published. Second of all - topic. more
It would be reasonable to assume that art thieves steal for financial gain. Maybe sell their haul to disreputable dealers or collectors for quick cash, seek a ransom for its safe return, or use the pieces as collateral for the illegal drug and gun trades. That’s the sort of scenarios police expect. After all, who would steal irreplaceable and breathtakingly expensive works of art for the sheer pleasure of sharing private space with them. It would be even stranger if a thief had no desire to monetize a two billion dollar collection when that person is an unemployed freeloader living in his mother’s attic. more
Stendhal Syndrome -- a psychosomatic condition involving rapid heartbeat, fainting and swooning and being overcome physically and emotionally when an individual is exposed to objects, artworks, or phenomena of great beauty. The true story of an Art thief I'd never heard of. A man who loved art, Renaissance Art and medieval art in particular, who must possess it. He steals not for money but for love and collects. A story that is unbelievable at times, read so beautifully by Edoardo Ballerini that I binge listened to a large part of it. more
This is not journalism or non-fiction. Instead, the “journalist” tells a one-sided, repetitive and uninteresting interpretation of a man’s fiction of himself, a criminal with Antisocial Personality Disorder who takes no accountability for his crimes while blaming everyone else and every museum for his behavior. The portrayal is presumably meant to make one feel sorry for this petty thief who doesn’t discriminate between million dollar art and shoplifting, yet at every turn I found myself shuddering at the trope of a creepy loser who steals because he thinks he’s better and smarter than the rest. Instead, I feel sorry for the countries, museums, and art lovers from whom these works and their viewings was stolen. I feel like my time reading this drivel was stolen too. more
i had so much faith in this man and he decided to thoroughly destroy every bit of it <3. more
Generally speaking I like non-violent True Crime quite a bit, especially when it centers on a heist or museum theft. This certainly fits those categories, but though it’s well-researched and well-presented, it just isn’t a particularly good story as gentleman thief stories go. For a book like this to work for me, I need to either a) learn a lot or b) find the thief compelling. Neither of these things came through in this book. If you know very little about art and art theft it’s possible you’ll learn a few things, but don’t expect much if you’re reasonably well-informed on the topic. more
I found the story of Stephane Breitwieser, a prolific art thief who carried out over 200 heists over ten years, to be utterly fascinating. Gripped from page one, I never wanted to put down this story. It reads like a thriller, evoking suspense and tension in every chapter. Not since reading My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress have I felt so emotionally drawn into a nonfiction true crime book. I wasn't at all familiar with this story, so all the twists and turns along with way caught me by surprise in the best way possible. more
The bizarre true story related in this book was new to me, perhaps because it all took place in Europe and, aside from sensational headlines at the time it initially broke, received relatively little press coverage in the US. On 200 occasions, over a period of around 10 years, a young man named Stéphane Breitwieser stole art worth millions - or maybe billions (it's hard to assign a value to art that has been held in museums). This easily represents the greatest string of art thefts in history. The truly weird thing is that at no point did he attempt to sell the hundreds of paintings, sculptures and other pieces of art that he stole. He kept them in his room in the small house he shared with his mother (and girlfriend), so that he could enjoy a more intimate relationship with them. more
my only gripe is the audiobook narrator because it was easy to lose focus, but otherwise I think this is a very well-written and well-researched nonfiction. it has a fascinating balance between the thief's methods of operation, the psychological aspect of his deeds, and his personal life, specifically his romantic relationship. more
Current best seller that I listened to on audiobook. The true story of an art thief that loved art more than profit. My main takeaway from this is how surprisingly easy it was for him to steal these valuable works of art. They say museums spend their money on obtaining new art over extra security. So it goes. more
A quick, compelling read, but one that ultimately pissed me off. Finkel seems enraptured by his subject -- Stéphane Breitwieser, who in over a decade stole supposedly over $2 billion worth of art from museums and auction houses -- and it is clear from his sources that he relied almost entirely on interviews with him to craft his story. The result seems incredibly biased, especially as pertains to Breitwieser's mother and girlfriend, both of whom ended up his accomplices to varying degrees, and who the narrative makes out subsequently "betrayed" him. (To be clear: his mother's destructive actions are particularly horrifying, but as a crime against the world, not Breitwieser. ) But Breitwieser's obsession/compulsion/whatever ruined both of their lives, and he clearly deceived and compelled them in ways the text doesn't fully address. more
I do not read much true crime, but I am interested in art, and occasionally pick up a book about art theft. This is one such book. In this case, journalist Michael Finkel brings us the true story of art thief Stéphane Breitwieser, who stole hundreds of pieces of art between 1994 and 2001 from museums throughout Europe. Unlike many thieves, Breitwieser did not steal in order to sell the pieces, but to collect them for his personal enjoyment. He displayed them in his attic apartment in his mother’s home, where he lived with his girlfriend, who served as lookout during his crimes. more
An arrogant, Alsatian hoarder with Mommy issues steals hundreds of artworks and then fails to properly protect them himself. Oceans 11 this was not. The passages in which Finkel describes and discusses the properties of select pieces of European Renaissance Art are easily the best. However, it does seem like half the book is "Breitwieser and Anne-Catherine. Breitwieser. more
Compelling compulsions never to be conquered. The true story of the most successful art thief in history (Stephane Breitwiesser) is well laid out and narrated in the audiobook version. I know nothing about art but that was not an issue, but I’m sure art aficionados would appreciate it more. Breitwiesser is truly a talented thief and the sheer audacity of his crimes makes it worth your time. Certainly, one of the least likeable criminals I’ve come across (and he’s not even fictional), and to think he is now only 52 (2023). more
I love reading about art crime: thefts, forgeries, etc. This one got good reviews, so I pounced on it - in spite of the author. I rather liked Finkel's previous Stranger in the Woods - on a lukewarm, 3-star level - but mostly because the subject of the book was more interesting and sympathetic. Finkel has a checkered background, fired from the New York Times for fabricating elements of a story, and his relationship with the "stranger" Christopher Knight was a bit weird. The art thief, Stephane Breitwieser, is no such sympathetic character. more