Yes, I was an art history major...

[yolen]

The fact that these paintings have been stolen have feeling emotionally nauseous. I'm just glad that at least the fucker didn't cut them out of the frames.

Comments

[thudthwacker]

I'm always confused when this sort of thing happens. I mean, you can't *display* them yourself, and why own priceless art if you can't display it? What, you hang it in a closet and go look at it by yourself every once in awhile? What the Hell for? And, I would think selling one of these is incredibly difficult, because you need to find a buyer who, also, won't be able to put the work on display, and find him before you happen across someone who will turn you in.

[greenquotebook]

Chances are that the buyer was had before the art was stolen, which makes it even worse. Whose moral compass is fucked up enough that they have convinced themselves that they love art so much that they're willing to desecrate a museum to own it?

[yolen]

No kidding! Bastards!

[fings]

If the thieves were smart, they had *multiple* buyers lined up before. It's a scam that works like this: forge a dozen or so really good copies of the painting you are going to steal. Arrange to find buyers for the painting on the condition that you can steal it and deliver it. Steal the painting, deliver the dozen forgeries to your dozen buyers. Keep the original.

None of your buyers can reveal they bought the painting, as it's stolen, so they don't know you are selling multiple copies. You can pre-ship your forgeries internationally before you steal the original, thus cutting down on your need to smuggle.

Plus, if you get caught, you can turn over the original hoping to reduce charges, and plus you've got 12x the black market price of the painting in cash to hire lawyers (and bodyguards, since you now have 12 rich people pissed off at you).