- Joined
- Sep 17, 2001
- Messages
- 2,011
A rather curious story about the theft of a Salvador Dali painting from a New York prison.here
But the thing it made me think about is something I've thought about over the years: what a an odd kind of crime art theft is.
I'm not a criminal mastermind, or indeed a criminal of any stripe, so maybe I'm missing something here.(Well, technically speaking I'm a sexual outlaw according to the laws of my state, but that's neither here nor there.) If you were going to steal, it would seem cash would be best. It's essentially untraceable and possesion of it is not a crime.
If you steal something like jewelery or televisions, you need a middleman to fence it, but there are plenty of pawn shops or unscrupulous types who will take it off your hands.
But a one-of-a-kind work of art "worth" perhaps $500,000? How do you move that? It could never appear on the open market. Is there a buyer who makes a specific order for a particular piece? And what kind of twisted person would pay half a million for a painting they could never show anybody, just sitting alone in their basement looking at it?
OK, it's late, but I do think about these things sometimes. Any ideas?
But the thing it made me think about is something I've thought about over the years: what a an odd kind of crime art theft is.
I'm not a criminal mastermind, or indeed a criminal of any stripe, so maybe I'm missing something here.(Well, technically speaking I'm a sexual outlaw according to the laws of my state, but that's neither here nor there.) If you were going to steal, it would seem cash would be best. It's essentially untraceable and possesion of it is not a crime.
If you steal something like jewelery or televisions, you need a middleman to fence it, but there are plenty of pawn shops or unscrupulous types who will take it off your hands.
But a one-of-a-kind work of art "worth" perhaps $500,000? How do you move that? It could never appear on the open market. Is there a buyer who makes a specific order for a particular piece? And what kind of twisted person would pay half a million for a painting they could never show anybody, just sitting alone in their basement looking at it?
OK, it's late, but I do think about these things sometimes. Any ideas?