By Lubna Abdel-Aziz What a shame! What a shock! What a scandal! The collective gasp of alarm, following the thefts of Van Gogh's Poppy Flowers, was outrageous and hypocritical. The loudest indignations came from the least acquainted with art in general, this work in particular. The small work of art (30x30cm), was painted by the Dutch artist in 1887, and valued at about $50 million; undoubtedly an unimaginable Loss. The museum itself, once the residence of the art collector and connoisseur, Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil, houses 304 oil paintings by 143 artists with an estimated value of $1.2 billion. This very same painting was stolen once before in 1978 and recovered two years later in an undisclosed location in Kuwait. No hysterics were displayed then, no direful distress, no agonizing trauma. What is different today? Could the target of their fury lie elsewhere? Nine painting were stolen last year from the Mohamed Aly museum. Similarly, the whole 19th century art collection of the Egyptian ruler Ibrahim Pasha was stolen last year. Few heard of that, few were chagrinned by the loss. The collection, which was recovered two days later, dumped at the museum's door, received even less attention. A legitimate question to ask is how many ever bothered to visit the museum, or to view Van Gogh's Poppy Flowers? Much like his sunflowers, Vincent van Gogh's paintings are not just a formal composition of shapes and colours. This post impressionist painter left a bright vividness on his canvas that stays in our minds as a symbol of nature bursting with life. Shame on us who have neglected to view his art. Shame on us who have neglected to peruse the aesthetic experience that uplifts our spirit and refreshes our senses. What now is to become of the Poppy Flowers? What happens to all the stolen paintings? Only last May a bold and solitary thief stole five paintings from the Modern Art Museum of Paris by Picasso, Matisse, George Braque, Fernand Leger, and Amadeo Modigliani. What is the fate of such art heists? They cannot surface or be resold. The image of the wealthy art lover who is so obsessed with acquiring a certain painting worth a fortune, to hide away in his basement for his private viewing, exist no more, except in movies. Since the 1960s, 80% of all art crime is perpetrated by international organized crime syndicates. Most illicit thefts bring in about 7--10% of their legitimate auction value. Crime syndicates, unable to convert stolen art to cash, have developed an internal bartering method where cash is never exchanged. They simply trade the art work for equivalent value of other illicit goods or services. According to Interpol and other knowledgeable sources, art crime represents the third highest grossing criminal enterprise worldwide, behind drug and arms trafficking. It is a closed black market, a sort of traded currency much like money laundering. Interpol claims that even terrorism is funded by art crimes. As an example the IRA was one of the early beneficiaries of art crime. Neither the general public nor the different governments realize the severity of these crimes. Rising art values has seen a steady increase in art and antiquities crime. Italy and France are the most targeted, yet the public often dismisses them as victimless crimes, puzzling, but not dangerous crimes. An estimated $6-8 billion of annual criminal income covers only known crimes. A greater percentage of crimes go undiscovered. The biggest and most intriguing art crime in history is the case of the Isabelle Stewart Gardner heist in Boston Massachusetts. On the night of March 8th 1990, a group of thieves wearing police uniforms broke into the museum and took thirteen paintings, which included Rembrandt, Manet, Degas, and Vermeer. The collective estimate at the time was $300 million. None of these paintings have been recovered and the case still remains the unsolved mystery of Modern Art history. Recent rumours have surfaced accusing the Boston mob along with French art dealers. Unfortunately art dealers have become part and parcel of those crime organizations, how else are they to evaluate the art market. With their technical knowledge of the value in the art circles, legitimate dealers, art connoisseurs and appraisers of auction houses, even museums curators, are active participants in the art cartel. Art theft is ancient, complex and daring. Carefully and thoroughly planned, they involve millions, now billions, of dollars. The first documented case of art theft was in 1473. Two panels of Altar Piece of the Last Judgment by the Dutch painter Hans Memling were stolen. While the Triptych was being transported by ship from the Netherlands to Florence, the ship was attacked by pirates who sold it to the Gdansk Cathedral in Poland. You can see the altar piece at the National Museum in Gdansk today. The most famous theft was that of the Mona Lisa, which occurred in 1911, when a certain Vincenco Peruggia, simply carried it hidden under his coat and walked out of the Louvre Museum. It was recovered in 1913. Pablo Picasso was arrested and questioned by the police, then quickly released. Today Pablo Picasso is the most stolen artist of all time. To those incensed by recent art crimes and horrified at the lax security of the Mahmoud Khalil Museum, must be often more bewildered by the heist of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. The stolen items were likewise not insured and institutional security is never what it should be. Besides, no amount of modern technology is an impediment to dedicated art thieves. There will always be a way for the criminal to perpetrate a crime. Undoubtedly, the Mahmoud Khalil Museum security was lacking, so was security at the Art Museum in Paris. The fact that surveillance and alarms were not functioning is regrettable. The fact that the Paris museum, just like the Egyptian Museum, was in the process of upgrading its security before the theft, is unfortunate. Yet, unlike us in Egypt, none in the French government, the French public, or the French press accused their Minister of Culture of any wrongdoing. Let the painting rest and those accusing voices be silenced. There is no blame or shame. Art thefts happen every day and everywhere at the best museums equipped with state of the arts security measures. Is it regrettable? Yes! Embarrassing? Maybe! Scandalous? By no means! Society prepares the crime, the criminal commits it Henry Thomas Buckle (1821-1962)
