
An Andy Warhol Artwork Was Stolen and Never Seen Again - whocansay
https://www.thedailybeast.com/this-andy-warhol-artwork-was-stolen-and-never-seen-again
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twunde
What I find pretty amazing about this theft and the theft from the Isabella
Stewart Gardner museum in Boston is that the pieces stolen can't be resold on
the open market. Whomever is paying for these thefts, can only sell to
discreet private buyers (who then can't display them openly without risking
being caught). The economics of it are fascinating. A collector is paying
someone to steal artwork, which then becomes an illiquid asset with
significant legal liability. And the main benefit of these artworks is being
able to display it to your guests, which now adds more legal liability when
someone recognizes it. Who's behind these? Mob bosses? International
millionaires? The 1% in the US?

~~~
jpalomaki
Watched a documentary about stolen van Gogh. Turned out the person planned to
use it in negotions with authorities if he got caught (for other crimes, he
was involved in drugs).

In some countries you can negotiate a shorter sentence if you agree to
cooperate. ”Give me shorter sentence, I’ll bring back the national treasure -
put me to jail for life and you’ll never see it”.

~~~
daveFNbuck
If he had ended up dying without getting caught, we may have never seen that
van Gogh again either.

