The Criminal Dynamics of Art Crime in the European Union.
Naomi Oosterman
City University London
Art, Crime, and Criminals: Painting Fresh Pictures of Theft, Fraud, and Plunder.
PANEL: Are existing security measures able to protect public and private art theft?
Queen Mary University of London, 21st June 2016.
Overview presentation
• Introduction
• Research Design
• Research Focus
• EU policy art crime & Databases
• Methods
• Preliminary Results
Research Design
RESEARCH FOCUS• What are the criminal dynamics of art crime in the European Union?
METHODS• Art crime database - Social Network Analysis
• Law enforcement - Interviews/Secondary data analysis
• Museum (professionals) - Interviews/ Observations
LOCATION(S)
• United Kingdom• The Netherlands• Italy- COMMON DENOMINATOR
Research Focus – EU collaboration
• What are the criminal dynamics of art crime in the European Union?
Becker, 1982 / Bourdieu, 1993 / Griswold, 1994 / Ericson, 2007
Networks and collaboration
Division of labour
Cultural Diamond
Police as ‘information broker’
Relevant EU Presidency’s
The Netherlands 2004
France 2008
Poland 2011
The EU regarding art crime
Relevant EU presidency’s
• 2004 – The Netherlands- Member states should (in any aspect) have an art crime database- Implementation of a non-binding agreement that every member state should set up and maintain an
art crime database.
• 2008 – France- Call for a European database of stolen art- EU Council adopted a non-binding conclusion on the fight against the illicit trafficking in cultural objects- Called for greater police cooperation between member states and for the designation of contact
points
• 2011 – Poland - Questionnaire on cultural property crimes amongst member states- Resulted in the enhancement of cooperation with Interpol on developing and implementing a system for
urgent responses and reports of key events- Development of a handbook
Databases
• Interpol Works of Art Database
Focal point of the study
• Art Loss Register
• Leonardo Database (Italy)
• ArtClaim (ARG)
Research Methods
• Art crime database - Social Network Analysis
• Law enforcement - Interviews/Secondary data analysis
• Museum (professionals) - Interviews/ Observations
DatabaseCountry Paintings Drawings Sculptures Installations TOTALSAustria 224 23 79 4 330Belgium 328 8 233 30 599Denmark 32 1 45 4 82Finland 0 0 0 0 0France 326 326 326 75 1053Germany 244 17 102 1 364Ireland 7 0 1 3 11Italy 332 85 332 22 771Lithuania 47 0 3 1 51Norway 2 0 3 7 12Spain 104 21 131 5 261Sweden 56 5 41 5 107The Netherlands 270 32 82 8 392The United Kingdom 142 7 72 27 248
VARIABLESType Year CountryMovement Date PlaceArtist CitySizeNationality
Locations
Observations
Observations
Observations
Interviews
• Law enforcement agencies in Italy, The United Kingdom, and the Netherlands (+ some extra’s)
• Museum professionals – mostly curators/security employees/conservators
• Legal professionals – mostly loss adjusters/insurance specialists
• Criminal(s) – convicted forger
Building upon theoretical foundation of art worlds (Becker, 1982) and art fields (Bourdieu, 1972).
Some very preliminary results…
• Database
• Interviews
• Observations
Database
The Netherlands The HagueSpain MadridDenmark HolstebroUnited Kingdom LondonFrance ParisSweden StockholmAustria ViennaLithuania KaunasNorway BergenIreland Dublin
Baroque 16.3%Realism 7.8%Asian Art 7.7%Neo-Abstractionism 6.6%Romanticism 6.6%
+
Post-Impressionism 6.2%Impressionism 5.6%
Country & City Movement
ESJaume Plensa
ESPablo Picasso
ESSalvador Dali
BEL/FR Marc Chagall
AU Marie Egner
Top canon
French 6.5%
Spanish 3.4%
UK 3.1%
German 2.5%
Hungarian 2.1%
Nationality
Small City 60.0%
Medium City 5.9%
Large City 34.1%
Demo
UNK
Interviews
“It’s about visitors and lending art, it’s about big parties that connect to you in terms of funding. So despite the risks, regarding the safety of the visitors and the safety of the art in regards to events; it really is the risk of damage to your reputation that we are talking about today”. – Head of Security and Safety Department / Large museum
“You know, we are one of the biggest offices in Europe, we have over a hundred specialists alone. And only one of them specializes in art and jewelry. He is mostly working on jewels”. – Former employee of an insurance company
“There is no such thing as ‘art crime’, only crimes that are related to art and antiques. I mean, who decides what art is and what is not? In that aspect there is definitely the need for a new code”. – Dedicated art crime law enforcement professional
Interviews
“No one is just going to leave [here] with an art work, it is virtually impossible”. – Everyone
The Criminal Dynamics of Art Crime in the European Union.
Naomi Oosterman
City University London
Art, Crime, and Criminals: Painting Fresh Pictures of Theft, Fraud, and Plunder.
PANEL: Are existing security measures able to protect public and private art theft?
Queen Mary University of London, 21st June 2016.
