The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession

“Approaching the museum, ready to hunt, Stéphane Breitwieser clasps hands with his girlfriend, Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus, and together they stroll to the front desk and say hello, a cute couple. Then they purchase two tickets with cash and walk in.”

The opening lines of the text introduce Breitwieser and Anne-Catherine as they are about to commit a robbery. The author contrasts the casual and innocuous appearance of the couple with their criminal intentions. The assertion they are “ready to hunt” presents them as predators in disguise.

“The carving to him is a masterpiece, just ten inches tall yet dazzlingly detailed, the first humans gazing at each other as they move to embrace, the serpent coiled around the tree of knowledge behind them, the forbidden fruit picked not bitten: humanity at the precipice of sin.”

This description is of Adam and Eve by Georg Petel—an ivory carving that depicts the moment of “Original Sin” from the Bible. A key symbol of the text, Adam and Eve encapsulates the nature of Breitwieser and Anne-Cathrine’s relationship (See: Symbols & Motifs). By yielding to the immoral temptation of theft, they emulate Eve succumbing to the “forbidden fruit.”

“To unfasten the first screw amid the steady drip of tourists and guards requires ten minutes of concentrated effort, even with the margin of error shaved thin.”

Finkel builds suspense in the narrative by providing detailed accounts of Breitwieser’s art thefts. His use of the present tense creates a sense of immediacy, immersing readers in events. Here, the author uses tropes of the heist genre, emphasizing the audacity of Breitwieser’s crime and the patience and skill required for its success.