The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel
On the subject of recent world heists that have made headlines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Louvre_robbery
Why not enter the world of Stephane Breitwieser and his girlfriend Catherine Kleinklaus, a nurse, as they systematically stole art treasures throughout France, Switzerland and Belgium in the late 1900’s until 2001. A study in flawed humanity, this is a story of passion, and high-stakes deception. There is also intrigue and flamboyant bravado as seen in this story of a famous art thief
Stephane’s “hobby” took place most weekends when he and his girlfriend visited museums and took a total of 239 valuable items to his home where he proudly displayed them. At times they put the items in Catherine’s handbags, and at other times they cut canvasses out of their frames with a Swiss Army knife.
Breitwieser lived in the attic of his mother’s home and ended up making off with artwork worth more than a billion dollars. Stephane was a handsome man born in 1971 who came from an upper-class French family. He never worked but had a passion for art. The heists took place over a number of years, but eventually the pair were caught. Stephane was sentenced to six years in jail, while Catherine only served six months. When Stephane was arrested his mother destroyed much of the art collection to try to protect him. She ultimately received an eighteen- month sentence for that crime. Strangely, when Stephane was released from jail, he immediately began stealing art pieces again and was sent back to prison for three more years. When he was released a second time he stole again and at age 54 is currently under house arrest until the year 2031.
His obsession with art and owning it to appreciate in his own home, has been his destruction. He is unapologetic and continues to live on probation.
