Read Online Hot Art by Joshua Knelman - Free Book Online

high-risk jobs weren’t his style. They were unprofessional and only led to trouble for everyone.
    â€œHeadache Art,” he called them, “because they only give everyone involved a fucking headache! The criminals who get greedy and pull off high-profile art thefts are mostly idiots, they have no idea what they’re doing most of the time. They just see that something is worth money and they take it. Greed is their undoing,” he said. “Stealing art is the easy part—moving it is the hard part. A good thief stays out of the spotlight, and under the radar. That’s the golden rule.”
    Paul said the goal of an educated thief was to avoid attracting attention. “Everyone wants to make money,” he said, “just like in any professional organization or company.” And there was more than enough money to be made stealing lesser-known artworks without drawing the eyes of law enforcement or the spotlight of the media. He pointed out that the media were seduced by the larger thefts—finding out where the multi-million-dollar canvasses were. But these were isolated spectacles that made for great cocktail conversation and Hollywood blockbusters. For the most part, very famous paintings were a trap for criminals. It was the Myth versus the reality of the Problem again, but from a criminal’s point of view.
    With the right training, a sophisticated eye for value, and the appropriate network of art dealers, an art thief had no need to steal from larger institutions, ever. “Thieves who steal from museums should be prosecuted. End of story,” Paul said.
    He told me that he was retired, but when I asked how his day was progressing, he answered, “You know, I’m up to my usual Machiavellian ways.”
    Toward the end of our first conversation, Paul said to me about art theft, “Once you start thinking about this subject, you will never be able to stop thinking about it. Every time a painting is stolen somewhere in the world and you read about it in the news, you will feel compelled to think about it, and to know where that painting went. It grabs you and never lets you go.”
    We struck up what turned out to be a three-year conversation. In addition to being an art thief, Paul was an accomplished con man—and therefore a great storyteller. “I always use a paragraph when a word will do.”
    PAUL ONCE TOLD me a well-known joke that encapsulated his view of how people think. Two men are walking in the desert. Across the plain, they see a group of lions. More important, the lions see them. The lions look hungry. One of the men bends down and begins to tie his running shoes. His friend, watching him, points out diplomatically, “You’ll never outrun those lions.” The man tying his shoes replies, “I don’t need to outrun the lions. I just need to outrun you.”
    Paul’s career as a thief, he told me, was a study in the follies and hypocrisies of human behaviour, and it had resulted in a very specific view of how the world worked. “If you look at human beings, we are selfish and greedy. You drive one car, but you buy a second or a third car. Why does anyone have to own fifteen Rolls-Royces? One of the great philosophers of our time is George Lucas, and we are all a little like Jabba the Hut. We always want more than enough. In fact, we’re the only species on the planet that gratuitously wants more than enough.” Another trait Paul focussed on was dishonesty. “It’s more natural for a human being to be dishonest than to be honest,” he told me. “Each person is as despicable as the next. Everyone is out to fuck you. It’s just that some people use lubricant.”
    And no business exemplified lying, cheating, dishonesty, and greed more than the art world, according to Paul. “Deliciously dishonest” was his description of the industry. “That’s the art world I came to know and