Ana Trigo was not very surprised by the crude and audacious way in which valuable works of art were stolen from the Louvre Museum last October. In Paris, the thieves used a simple forklift, broke a few windows and in just a quarter of an hour, they left with some very tasty loot. “You might think that art thieves would resort to more sophisticated methods, but it must be emphasized that museum security leaves much to be desired. In reality, most museums are very vulnerable to art theft,” explains this art appraiser and writer. Ana Trigo can give an informed opinion after a long career as an expert in museums and historical-artistic heritage. And based on his experience and his career, he has just published Art thieves. Famous flights of great works (Ariel), where he reviews the most notorious flights in history.
The author, who combines his specialty with the publication of historical detective novels, wanted to explain in an entertaining and informative way this unknown world of artistic looting and the black market that surrounds this type of crime. “Art theft”, he emphasizes in an interview with elDiario.es, “is the fourth category of crimes in the world after drug trafficking, money laundering and arms trading. In addition, this crime is cheap for thieves because prison sentences are generally reduced. According to FBI data, works of art worth between 4 and 6 billion dollars have been stolen every year of this century and it must be added that the percentage of restored works is negligible.”
However, Ana Trigo’s essay shows very clearly that these enormous figures are only possible thanks to the existence of organized gangs specialized in this type of delinquency, on the one hand, and a very large black market in which more than one professional in the sector participates as resellers or intermediaries. Despite the security paraphernalia available to large museums, these centers suffer from a series of defects that make them prime targets for thieves. “In museums,” comments the Madrid expert, “there is usually a lack of staff, their budgets are limited, the control routines are not well organized and in some cases not even all the works are cataloged. In a word, a combination of lack of organization, corruption and negligence favors thefts in museums.”
According to the author, a small minority of very wealthy collectors are even capable of committing theft for the simple pleasure of enjoying works of art only at home. These billionaires do not care that the works cannot be shown in public and therefore simply display them to family and friends, because in many cases the paintings or sculptures are so well known that selling them becomes a mission impossible. “It is sometimes commented, in a tone between legend and reality, that certain mafia meetings in the United States or Italy take place in rooms presided over by authentic masterpieces of art history. Stolen, of course,” explains Ana Trigo. The author of art thieves researched for years to write this book which is based on a predominantly Anglo-Saxon bibliography, because few titles have been and are published in Spanish on this subject despite the importance of our heritage.
From colonial plunder to the Nazis
Regardless, this essay reveals that artistic looting has existed since ancient times and is generally perpetrated especially during colonial rule, wars and revolutions. However, when it comes to colonial looting, such as the famous cases of desecration of tombs in Egypt or the Benin bronzes, which are the subject of numerous chapters in the book, Ana Trigo defends a minority opinion that other experts do not share.
“Even if the dominant current,” he says, “is favorable to the return of works of art to their country of origin, I believe that we must analyze piece by piece and always with the objective of the security of the heritage. In short, public pleasure must take precedence and artistic works must be within the reach of the greatest number of researchers and art lovers. So, taking this debate to the extreme, all countries have suffered pillage due to invasions and conflicts. command, he appropriated a large part of the rich Spanish heritage during the War of Independence at the beginning of the 19th century, and that is not why we claimed him.
All countries have been plundered due to invasions and conflicts. Without going any further, the French army, under the command of Marshal Soult, appropriated a large part of the rich Spanish heritage during the War of Independence at the beginning of the 19th century, and that is not why we claimed it.
Ana Trigo
— Art expert and writer
Concerning wars, the book focuses mainly on the looting committed in Iraq after the American invasion in 2003 and which, according to Trigo, no one wanted to avoid. These lootings, visible live on television, were massive and a large number of pieces of great historical value from the lands of ancient Mesopotamia ended up being sold on the black market. “The majority of pieces,” concludes this expert, “have never been found.”
However, arguably the greatest looting in history was committed by the Nazis during the occupation of much of Europe during World War II. Sinister and powerful figures like Hermann Göring or Alfred Rosenberg, under the direct order of Adolf Hitler, a great art lover, plundered museums, churches, palaces and official buildings to gather a gigantic heritage. “The main difference with other lootings,” says Ana Trigo, “refers to the systematic nature of the actions of the Nazis, who obeyed the instructions of the political power itself. On the other hand, the Nazis carried out these lootings on the basis of an exhaustive control of what they appropriated. It should therefore be remembered that they documented everything with photographs, compilation albums, files…”.
Saviors of heritage
According to Trigo, the numerous literary or cinematographic versions of these episodes of Nazi looting are entirely consistent with reality. “Perhaps with one nuance,” observes the expert, “is that they respond to the vision of the Americans. Thus, they magnify and praise their own work, for example by recalling the role played by the so-called ‘monument men’, professionals whose task was to protect and recover art stolen by the Nazis. But more relevant and more meritorious was the feat of the heritage saviors who literally risked their lives to save a multitude of masterpieces.”
In several chapters, the author highlights these anonymous heroes who defended heritage at the risk of their lives, such as the miners of Altaussee, in Austria, who escaped the surveillance of retreating German troops and deactivated the bombs placed in the underground galleries to destroy countless works. A discreet French restorer, Rose Valland, who won the trust of the Nazi authorities at the Parisian Jeau de Paume museum, deserves special mention in the book. “She was”, emphasizes Ana Trigo, “a woman whom the German officers treated with indifference and disdain. But she witnessed the theft with skill and later became a key testimony to save hundreds of thousands of works and to condemn certain Nazi hierarchs.”
Ana Trigo, of course, does not forget to address in her book some of the most famous thefts or disappearances in emblematic centers of Spain, such as the Prado Museum, the Royal Palace or the National Library. Perhaps the most mysterious and notorious event was the one that occurred at the Royal Palace in August 1989, when someone entered the building, dismantled four paintings (including two works by Velázquez) each valued at the time at over 100 million pesetas (1.7 million euros today) and left the premises without any problem.
The ease and impunity with which the thieves acted may set a precedent comparable to the recent robbery of the Louvre museum. Here’s how Ana Trigo says: “The alarms did not sound, no security personnel saw anything strange, no entrances or locks were forced, the security system did not detect any presence. In the robbery room there were no signs of violence.” The truth, according to the expert, is that more than three decades have passed and, after the police dealt with various hypotheses, the stolen masterpieces did not appear. “The unknowns of the great robbery of the Royal Palace of Madrid remain unanswered”, declares Trigo by way of sentence.
This versatile expert, art world professional and writer at the same time, insists on the need to strengthen the security of museums and art centers. For Ana Trigo, it is inconceivable that self-proclaimed climate activists are destroying more and more masterful paintings or superb sculptures, which demonstrates the vulnerability of artistic heritage. A vast majority of the coins stolen in the most famous heists, which appear in the pages of this essay, are still awaiting resolution. “Some of these works,” says the author, “were not only silent witnesses to history, but determined its course and that of those who came into contact with them. Ultimately, their loss is a loss for all humanity.”
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