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The World of Art Crime

The World of Art Crime

August 12, 2022

After reading Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Wittman, I was sent tumbling head-over-heels down the rabbit hole of art crime! 

Art crime is a $6 billion industry, and Priceless really drives home the lengths thieves will go to in order to steal priceless works of art, only to then sell them for a fraction of their value. For example, in 1994, Edvard Munch’s masterpiece The Scream was stolen from a museum in Oslo, Norway. The thieves attempted to sell the $75 million painting for a paltry $750,000! 

Wittman’s memoir is a riveting, almost thriller-like account of the recoveries of priceless art and antiquities. It seamlessly blends stories of heists and black-market transactions with Wittman’s early life and his time in the FBI Academy, including his founding of the FBI Art Crime Unit. If you enjoy the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY of art history and true crime—this book will undoubtedly feed your appetite! 

Looking for more on the topic? Here are a few more titles to send you down your own rabbit hole! 

Lisa P.
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