While it makes good subject matter for films, television shows, and books, art crime - whether it is theft, forgery, or vandalism - is also a serious real-life issue. A talk on Thursday presented by the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover explores the world of art crime with two experts.
Robert Wittman is a retired FBI special agent and the founder of the bureau’s Art Crime Team. Joining him at the Schwartz Center for the Arts will be University of North Texas professor Laura Evans, an art crime historian.
During his career, he worked undercover on many investigations, posing as an art dealer or buyer.
“I did a lot of undercover work, worked in maybe 20 countries around the world,” Wittman says. “And we'll be talking about some of those stories, so the listeners who come will be hearing it from the man who was in the room.”
One thing Wittman stresses is that art crime is big business globally.
“All the cultural property in the world, $200 billion,” he says. “About $6 billion of that is the art crime industry.”
He also notes that investigating art crime is more about understanding the mechanics of the black market for art.
“When it comes to art crime, it's about the art business world, how to do a deal in the art business world,” Wittman says.
And while high-profile thefts of Renoirs and Picassos may make headlines, the purview of the FBI’s Art Crime Team is much wider than just fine art.
“It's not just sculptures, prints, and paintings,” Wittman explains. “It represents cultural heritage like antiquities, baseball cards, magazines, comic books, antique automobiles - all of these things are part of the cultural property of the world.”
Wittman had been working art crimes for the FBI for more than a decade before he approached bureau officials with the idea of forming a dedicated art crime squad, similar to those in many European countries. Bureau leadership bought into the idea, he says.
“When it comes to recovering a stolen Picasso or a stolen Monet or Rembrandt, you know, everybody agrees it's a good idea. So in the end, I think they saw the benefit of setting up an art crime team,” Wittman says.
For Wittman, the primary goal was always about the art, not the criminals.
“The issue for me has always been, get the art back,” he says. “I never worry so much about the individuals who do it. I want the art back because that's what's priceless.”
Wittman and University of North Texas professor Laura Evans will give a talk presented by the Biggs Museum on Thursday at the Schwartz Center for the Arts in Dover.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
