by Hugh McLeave ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 12, 1981
A decently assembled but surprisingly undramatic roundup of art-theft cases--nearly all from the Sixties and early Seventies--by a versatile writer of suspense fiction, medical reportage, and varied non-fiction. Part of the problem is that, after an opening chapter on the fascinating Mona Lisa theft of 1911 (poet Apollinaire was a suspect), McLeave finds few cases with either personalities or art-history ramifications worth exploring; most chapters group a handful of cases together, no single story developed enough to generate real interest. Two notable exceptions: the theft of Goya's portrait of Wellington from London's National Gallery--by a 61-year-old, overweight, unemployed bookmaker's clerk from Newcastle-on-Tyne who was enraged over the government's refusal to exempt the elderly from TV license fees (he kept the picture for four years before returning it, with apologies); and the familiar but still-potent saga of van Eyck's Adoration of the Lamb--in which the mysterious, paneled work itself provides the magnetism. Otherwise, however, there's, little to grab the attention as McLeave covers about three dozen incidents and several trends: gangs in the South of France, syndicates in Britain; the ransom racket and under-the-table deals between thieves and insurers (with praise for owners who've refused to negotiate with crooks); a few cases involving shocking absence of security measures; first-person testimony from an undercover agent posing as a fence (he recounts a Mafia-connected caper); an oddly bland profile of Rodolfo Siviero, who takes on Nazis, the Mafia, and US museums in his war against Italian-art piracy; suggestions of collusion between Italian police and the underworld; the massive Picasso museum theft of 1976; the ""Affaire PÉtridès,"" centering on the shady doings of Maurice Utrillo's dealer. And finally McLeave makes suggestions--some concrete, some platitudinous--for reducing the ""epidemic"" of international art thefts. Reasonably informative, then, but rather flatly written, without strong appeal either to art mavens or fans of heist/caper dramatizations.
Pub Date: Aug. 12, 1981
ISBN: 091799082X
Page Count: -
Publisher: Godine
Review Posted Online: N/A
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1981
Categories: NONFICTION
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.