The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession – by Michael Finkel – independent book review – non-fiction, biography

THE ART THIEF: A TRUE STORY OF LOVE, CRIME, AND A DANGEROUS OBSESSION is Michael Finkel’s bestselling account of the true story of French art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser (born 1971) and almost defies belief! Over just eight years, Breitwieser (aided by his lookout/girlfriend) stole an estimated $1.4 BILLION in paintings and art objects during 200 separate thefts from dozens of museums and cathedrals throughout Europe. (So much for faith in museum security, which apparently relies more on the trustworthiness of visitors than anything else!) Three stars on Goodreads.

Breitwieser strikes me as an unlikely anti-hero. From an early age, he was a loner who found companionship in art, particularly in the wake of his parents’ painful divorce. At 30, Stéphane lived in the attic of his mother’s home with his girlfriend, Anne-Catherine Kleinklauss. He was unemployed and had held down only a few low level jobs for short periods of time. (Of note is that one of those jobs was as a security guard at a museum.)

Nevertheless, Breitwieser executed all these thefts, with little planning, during regular museum hours, without breaking in, causing damage, or threatening anyone. And never selling a single item. He simply accumulated these beautiful objects for his own enjoyment, seeing himself as an “art liberator.”

However, for a story that (as you see from the full title) combines “love, crime, and a dangerous obsession”, THE ART THIEF struck me as a dry and plodding narrative. Although Finkel explains he worked on this book for ten years and interviewed most of the key players, I never felt he crafted a compelling story. No mystery, no suspense, no excitement.

Instead, I felt as though I was reading a a carefully compiled, almost laundry-list type summary of each theft — surrounded by supporting anecdotes about Stéphane’s childhood, relationships with his parents, connection with Anne-Catherine, and evaluations from numerous therapists. And, yes, I do acknowledge that most other reviewers clearly disagree with me.

Finkel does include the full story of how Stéphane and Anne-Catherine are eventually caught and tried, (along with his mother’s participation in the cover-up) but I never felt like I got a satisfactory enough explanation of why Stephane did what he did. Perhaps that’s asking the impossible.

THE ART THIEF is not a long book (234 pages) and I did keep turning pages, mostly to find out how it would end. But when I finished, I was left with little emotional impact. Just some pity for Breitwieser who struck me as a sad and pathetic figure wasting his life.

More about the author, Michael Finkel.