The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first century: the story of the worlds most prolific art thief, Stphane Breitwieser. The Art Thief, like its title character, has confidence, lan, and a great sense of timing."The New Yorker A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Lit Hub "Enthralling." The Wall Street Journal In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods brings us into Breitwiesers strange worldunlike 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 Stphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight yearsin museums and cathedrals all over EuropeBreitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion. In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwiesers strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his hearts content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addicts need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriends pleas to stopuntil one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down. This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.