The art of the art heist doc

Some recommendations

I love an art heist documentary. I honestly don’t know what I was wasting my time watching before. I’m somehow in awe of their endeavours and willing them on, while being apoplectic that they’ve cut a masterpiece from its frame and it’s perishing, cracked and moulding in a damp basement somewhere, hidden for decades.

They can be formulaic, like a lot of documentary - a time line zipping back and forth, a double bass implying an air of frisson, but they are so entertaining. Here are a few recommendations, most available on Netflix or Amazon. If you have any recommendations of your own, please let me know! *

Vjeran Tomic The Spider-Man of Paris: An incredible story with interviews and reconstructed elements, plus some amazing parkour rooftop footage you have to watch holding your breath. The audacity of this guy is phenomenal. If it wasn’t true you wouldn’t believe how easy it was to steal a Modigliani or two. (Netflix)

Made You Look: A story of pure greed and wilful ignorance. I enjoyed the forensics in this one and because it deals with the boom of the Abstract Expressionist art market. (Netflix)

The Thief Collector: A mystery and a love story in one. It’s so much fun and keeps you guessing till the end (actually beyond the end), unveiling new surprises at every turn. My favourite. (Amazon)

Art and Craft: A portrait of a gentle man with a history of schizophrenia, which poses the question Is art fraud wrong if you’re giving it away? (Amazon)

In the Venn diagram -

Book: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - I haven’t seen the film because I didn’t want it to ruin my favourite book, which is absolutely epic. Maybe one day.

TV: Columbo, Suitable for Framing - Any episode involving Columbo ‘not understanding modern art’ is going to the top of my list. 70s cocktail parties, a doomed accomplice and a classy reveal.

Art fraud adjacent (especially if you include designing the wine labels): Sour Grapes - an excellent and entertaining wine fraud doc. I just love watching greedy people getting duped.

*I did also watch This Is a Robbery, a four episode deep dive into a huge art heist from a Boston museum in the early 90s, but it was a bit slow, so it didn’t make my list. It did answer questions as to why people steal art they can never sell. Clue: it’s mafia related. And I do love any reference to the Boston neighbourhood Southie. 

Enjoy!