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Showing posts with label Quebec Art Crime team. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quebec Art Crime team. Show all posts

April 17, 2013

Quebec's Art Crime Enforcement Unit Reports Recovery of Stolen Domingue Painting

On January 14, Quebec's art crime enforcement unit, a partnership between the province's police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, reported the theft of "Rue Richard", an 18 by 24 cm watercolor by artist Maurice Domingue.

Today Art Alerte, the email notification system for Canada's art crime squad, published the information that the painting has been recovered.

No other information has been made available.

May 4, 2012

BOOK REVIEW CONCLUDED: Joshua Knelman's Hot Art: Chasing Thieves and Detectives through the Secret World of Stolen Art

by Catherine Sezgin, ARCA Blog Editor

(You may find the first two parts here and here)

In London, Julian Radcliffe, founder of the Art Loss Register, a private company originally funded by auction houses and insurers to create a database of stolen art, tells Knelman of his effort to establish a stolen art database for art dealers and auction houses.  The company also reported over $200 million in art theft recoveries by 2008, including recoveries of paintings by Cézanne, Edouard Manet, and Pablo Picasso.

“Famous paintings are just a small percentage of what is being stolen,” Radcliffe told Knelman, [adding that] most of the art on the ALR list consists of minor paintings and antiques, and fewer than 1 per cent of those are ever recovered.

Radcliffe explains that art dealers often didn’t question why they could purchase a painting cheaply.  Sometimes if art dealers found out the art was reported stolen on ALR, they would not buy the work but refer it to someone else.  Even art thieves like to search the database to see if a painting has been reported stolen.

In the over 1,000 recoveries Radcliffe has enjoyed, in only three cases was the thief not after the paycheck for the stolen art, and most of the art that wasn’t immediately passed on to a dealer or auction house was stored in a vault, a closet, an attic, or a basement.
“Transactions in the art world are often carried out anonymously … and this cult of secrecy can be taken advantage of by criminals,” said Radcliffe.  “The art trade is the least regulated and least transparent activity in the commercial world, and the portability of the times and their international market make them very attractive for moving value, unobserved.”
Radcliffe said that the average value of stolen art is under $10,000 and that thieves will pass these items off to fences, who will then move them into the outlands of the art market: to small auction houses or galleries, or across oceans…. About half of all stolen art recovered by the ALR was found in a different country from where it was originally stolen. 

In the United States, Knelmen meets Special Agent Robert K. Wittman, then a Senior Art Investigator for the Rapid Deployment Art Crime Team for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Wittman was six months away from retirement.  The 1996 law, The Theft of Major Artwork had made it a federal crime to steal from a museum or to steal a work of art worth more than $5,000 or older than 100 years.  Knelman tells how Wittman recovered a Norman Rockwell painting in Brazil just three months after helping with the recovery effort after the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Knelman meets Matthew Bogdanos who had lived one block from the WTC on 9/11.  The assistant U. S. district attorney, a Marine reservist, led the art theft investigation of the National Museum of Iraq after looting in 2003, and established an amnesty program to recover the stolen antiquities.

In the fall of 2009, Knelman meets Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ Art Crime Team which had reorganized in response to the looting of the Iraqi museum.  Magness-Gardiner echoes what Knelman heard in his first meeting with an art thief in Toronto six years earlier about an unregulated and undocumented art market based on secretive transactions involving millions of dollars.

I asked Magness-Gardiner if it was fair to say that no one had a handle on how large the black market in stolen art had become.  “Yes, that’s fair to say,” she answered....  “When we say ‘black market,’ really what we mean are those stolen items that are in the legitimate market and shouldn’t be there.  The black market isn’t separate.  So we’re talking about items that have no history.  The collectors, the museums, and the dealers all partake on some level.”

Magness-Gardiner explains:
“Art is one of the biggest unregulated markets in the U. S.  The business of art tends to be very closed and secretive.  It is still business done on a handshake.  Financial transactions are quite difficult to track, because you don’t have a paper trail.  How art is bought, sold, and moved is a challenge in itself to understand.  When a piece of art is bought or sold, there is the movement of the physical object from one location to another.  There is also the transfer of money from one bank account to another.  There is nothing to link those two events.”
Magness-Gardiner addressed the lack of information about the collecting history or previous ownership of an object of art or cultural property:
“Another problem built into a business-on-a-handshake model is the issue of provenance.  The first thing we tell a new agent to do is to find out whether or not the work of art that has been stolen is, in fact, real.  Where does it come from? Where are its records? We don’t know until we do a background investigation on the piece of art.”  She continued, “Looking at the authenticity of a piece is always detective work.  Unlike most other material items manufactured today, art does not have serial numbers.  Lack of a serial number is one element that really distinguishes art from other types of property theft.  The only parallel is jewellery and gems – difficult to trace because they don’t have a serial number either, and so they are particularly valuable to thieves,” she said. 

“The middlemen and the dealers don’t want other people to know their sources.  This can stem from a legitimate business concern, because if other dealers find out who their sources are, they could use those same sources.”
Knelman dedicates a chapter to the art crime investigator, Alain Lacoursière, who had worked on art thefts as part of his police job until he retired. When Knelman met the new generation of the  Quebec Art Squad they didn’t know of the work of the LAPD Art Theft Detail until Knelman told the French-speaking detectives of Hrycyk’s work.

In Hot Art, Knelman successfully brings a personal narrative navigating the disparate international world of art theft and recovery that almost unknowingly tell of the same story of theft and laundering stolen art through the legitimate market and the limited resources to combat the problem.  From England’s first art investigative team, the Sussex Police’s art and antiques squad, in 1965 to information flourishing on the internet through blogs such as Art Hostage (written by the former  Brighton Knocker Paul "Turbo" Hendry), and information dispersed by Interpol, the LAPD’S Art Theft Detail, Quebec’s Art Crime Squad, and the Museum Security Network, who in the English-speaking world will be the next law enforcement officers to continue the work of its pioneers?

October 28, 2011

Sûreté du Québec Police's Art Crime Enforcement Unit reports three paintings by Marc-Auréle Fortin and one painting by Rolland Montpetit have been stolen

Painting by Fortin reported stolen
by Catherine Schofield Sezgin,
ARCA Blog Editor-in-Chief

Sûreté du Québec Police's Art Crime Enforcement Unit used it's internationally distributed Art Alert email program to notify the art world and law enforcement that four paintings have been stolen. The Art Alert system, designed by retired officer Alain Lacoursière and the current head of the team, Jean-François Talbot, sends out an image of the artwork and known details such as the name of the artist; title of the work; year created; medium; dimension; and any other known details.

Interested parties may subscribe at art.alerte@surete.qu.ca.

The ARCA blog has previously covered the activities of Canada's only art crime enforcement team here.

Painting by Marc-Aurèle Fortin reported stolen
Quebec landscape painter Marc-Aurele Fortin produced three of the paintings. Fortin (1888-1970), beset by diabetes, stopped most of his painting in 1955 and entrusted thousands of works to his manager yet many of his paintings are thought to have been lost. Fortin's artworks can be seen in the Musée des beaux arts Montréal (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) and at the National Gallery of Canada.

Painting by Rolland Montpetit reported stolen
Rolland Montpetit (Canadian, born 1913) produced the fourth painting reported stolen today on Art Alert.



The police do not release any other information about the paintings on Art Alert.

If you are interested in reading about Canada's largest art theft, you may find more information here.

Update: A fifth email from Art Alert reports that another painting, one by Pfeiffer, was stolen at the same time.

Painting by Pfeiffer also reported stolen

October 16, 2011

The Journal of Art Crime, Spring 2011: Q&A with the Québec Art Crime Team

Québec Art Crime Team
ARCA Blog Editor-in-Chief Catherine Schofield Sezgin interviews the Québec Art Crime Team in the Spring 2011 issue of The Journal of Art Crime. In 2008, the Sûreté du Québec, in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, created Canada's first national art crime enforcement unit now consisting of Jean-François Talbot and Sergeant Alain Dumouchel (both of the Sûreté du Québec) and Sylvia Dubuc, RCMP, and Sergent Superviseur Alain Gaulin (Sûreté du Québec).

Beginning in 2003, Jean-François Talbot worked for four years with Alain Lacoursière, an art historian and now-retired Montreal police officer, to develop a new investigative art crime team and Art Alert, an email bulletin sent out to 25,000 members of the art and police communities in 75 countries whenever artworks in Canada are reported stolen.

The team was interviewed in French. In acknowledgement of the international issue of art crime, the interview is presented in both French and in English translation.

A copy of this issue of The Journal of Art Crime may be found through the ARCA website or through Amazon.com.

August 28, 2011

The Journal of Art Crime, Spring 2011: "The Skylight Caper: The Unsolved 1972 Theft of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts"

Catherine Schofield Sezgin's article "The Skylight Caper: The Unsolved 1972 Theft of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts" has been published in the fifth issue of The Journal of Art Crime (Spring 2011).

Rembrandt Stolen from MMFA in 1972
This article examines previously published articles on Canada's largest art theft, the 1972 unsolved theft of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and compares the information with two principals involved with the museum and the investigation. It explores the ideas proposed in the last four decades as to who may have committed the theft and the alleged whereabouts of 39 pieces of jewelry and silver and the 17 missing paintings, including art by Rembrandt, Corot, Rubens and Courbet. This article describes the history of museum thefts in Canada, how the crime was committed, and some characteristics that may have made this museum and those paintings a target for theft.

Catherine Schofield Sezgin, a graduate from ARCA's Postgraduate Program in International Art Crime Studies in 2009, worked closely with Bill Bantey, retired journalist and director of public relations for the museum at the time of the theft, and Alain Lacoursière, retired Montreal police officer specializing in art crime.

You may read updates about the case on her blog, The Unsolved 1972 Theft of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

The Journal of Art Crime is available via subscription through ARCA's website and from Amazon.com.

April 29, 2011

Q&A with Quebec's first art crime enforcement unit

(Left to Right) Quebec's art crime team:
Jean-François Talbot, Alain Gaulin,
 Alan Dumouchel and Sylvie Dubuc
by Catherine Schofield Sezgin, Editor-in-Chief

In 2008, the Sureté du Québec, in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police created Canada’s first national art crime enforcement unit now consisting of Jean-François Talbot, Sergeant Alain Dumouchel (both of the Sûreté du Québec) and Sylvie Dubuc, RCMP, and Sergent Superviseur Alain Gaulin (Sûreté du Québec).

Beginning in 2003, Jean-François Talbot worked for four years with Alain Lacoursière, an art historian and now-retired Montreal police officer, to develop a new investigative art crime team and Art Alert, an email bulletin sent out to 25,000 members of the art and police communities in 75 countries whenever artworks in Canada are reported stolen. In the four-year partnership between the SQ and Montreal’s city police, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), between 2004 and 2008, the two forces investigated 450 art crime files, made 20 arrests, seized over 150 stolen or forged artworks valued at $2 million, and worked with Interpol on international files.

Canada has been a member of Interpol, the world’s largest international police organization, for more than 60 years and through their database is connected to 187 Interpol member countries.

The art crime team, a group within the investigative department of economic crimes, also examines forged artworks, money laundering, theft, and the sale of stolen goods. The RCMP–Sûreté du Québec team members combine strong backgrounds in art history, law, fraud, and copyright issues. The art squad, with three members from Sureté du Québec and another from the RCMP, in collaboration with the local police in Montreal, recently arrested two suspects using credit cards obtained under false identities to purchase works of art (Robert Bernier, “Art Alert”, iParcours)). They entered into agreements to pay for the art in installments. They paid the first payment by credit card, took the art, and did not pay the balance owed. Between July and November in 2010, the suspects approached seven galleries and from five of those negotiated the sale of 34 works totaling $245,000. The suspects were charged with fraud and fraudulent use of credit cards.

Statistics in art-crime related activities in Canada and Quebec are difficult to quantify as they are listed for each country, and many art thefts are classified as ‘property’ theft by local jurisdictions. The art crime investigative unit estimates that they handle an average of 90 cases annually.

Q: Who are the members of the art crime team and how were they selected?
A: Sergent Enquêteur Jean-François Talbot (Sûreté du Québec) travaillait avec Alain Lacoursière lors de la création de l’équipe d’enquêteur. Il compte 12 ans d’expérience. Il termine une formation universitaire en Histoire de l’art./Sergent Investigator Jean-François Talbot (Sûreté du Québec) worked with Alain Lacoursière in establishing the art crime investigation team. He has twelve years of experience. He is completing his university training art history. 
Sergent Enquêteur Alain Dumouchel (Sûreté du Québec) compte près de 25 ans d’expérience , dont 6 ans en enquête criminelle. Il est inscrit à une formation universitaire en Histoire de l’art./ Sergeant Investigator Alain Dumouchel (SQ) has nearly 25 years experience, including 6 years in criminal investigation. He is studying for a university degree in Art History. 
Gendarme Sylvie Dubuc (Gendarmerie Royale du Canada) compte plus de 25 ans d’expérience, dont 8 ans en droit d’auteur./Constable Sylvie Dubuc (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) has over 25 years experience, including 8 years in copyright investigation. 
Sergent Superviseur Alain Gaulin (Sûreté du Québec) est le responsable de l’équipe. Il compte plus de 20 ans d’expérience policière./ Supervisor Sergeant Alain Gaulin (SQ) is the team leader. He has over 20 years of police experience.
Q: How big of a problem is art crime in Canada?
A: Il est impossible de se prononcer pour le Canada, l’équipe travaille exclusivement au Québec. La quantité de dossier d’enquête est en nombre croissant depuis la creation de l’équipe./It is impossible answer that question with respect to all of Canada, since the team works exclusively in Quebec. The number of investigations has increased since the creation of the team.
Q: Does the Port of Montreal increase the amount of illegal art traffic you police?
A: Le Port de Montréal est un endroit ciblé par plusieurs organizations criminelles pour faire le traffic de marchandise. Les oeuvres d’arts n’y échappent pas./The Port of Montreal is targeted by several criminal organizations for the trafficking of goods. Artworks are no exception.
Q: How would you describe your working relationship with INTERPOL and US Customs? Do you find that stolen art in Canada leaves the country? Is working with other international agencies important to the success of Canada’s art crime unit?
A: Nous avons une excellente collaboration avec les responsables d’Interpol à Ottawa. Nous consultons régulièrement leur banque de données pour completer nos dossiers. Nous avons fais des rencontres avec des enquêteurs des pays suivants: France: Office Centrale de la lutte des biens culturels; Belgique: Police Judiciaire Fédérale (Oeuvre d’art et Antiquité); États-Unis: F.B.I. & Secret Service. La collaboration avec les autres agences internationales est primordiale pour nous et permet d’obtenir des résultats dans nos enquêtes./We have excellent cooperation with Interpol officials in Ottawa. We regularly consult their database to complete our records. We have met with investigators from the following countries: France (Central Office for the Protection of Cultural Property); Belgium (Federal Judicial Police in Artwork and Antiquities); and the U.S. (F.B.I. and the Secret Service). Collaboration with other international agencies is of the utmost importance to us and can produce results in our investigations.
Q: What is the biggest challenge Quebec’s art crime team faces in recovering a stolen work of art?
A: Le plus grand défi réside dans la rapidité de notre intervention permettant la récupération des oeuvres volées./The biggest challenge is how quickly we can act to recover the stolen art.
Q: Describe an average day for Quebec’s art crime team.
A: Il est difficile de décrire une journée type. Les événements imprévus viennent souvent changer notre planification. En plus des tâches usuels de notre travail d’enquêteur, il y a les rencontres des divers propriétaires de galerie et autres personnes relies au milieu de l’art de la province permettant d’établir des contacts./It is difficult to describe a typical day.  Unexpected events often modify our planning. In addition to the usual tasks related to our investigative work, there are various meetings of gallery owners and others connected to the province's art scene in order to establish contacts.
Q: Please tell us about the development of Art Alert and how it works today.
A: Le courriel Art Alert a été crée en 2005. C’est un outil de travail fort utile pour nous. Il rejoint de plus en plus de monde au Canada et ailleurs. On recoit régulièrement des demandes du public demandant à être abonné./The e-mail Alert Art was founded in 2005 and is a very useful tool for us. We are reaching more and more people in Canada and elsewhere. We regularly receive requests from the public asking to be subscribed to Art Alert.
Q: What piece of advice would you offer to individuals interested in pursuing a career in art crime investigation?
A: Pour devenir enquêteur en oeuvre d’art au Québec, il faut être policier d’un service de police. Une formation en histoire de l’art ou autre domaine connexe est un atout./To become an art crime investigator in Quebec, you must employed as a police officer. A background in art history or related field is desirable.
Q: What would you most like to see the Quebec’s art crime team achieve in the next five years?
A: Depuis la formation de l’équipe, la charge de travail ne cesse d’augmenter, l’ajout d’enquêteur confirmerait la réussite de notre équipe. La reconnaissance par le milieu de l’art au Québec de la nécéssité de cette équipe est un autre objectif. /Since the formation of the team, the workload is increasing, and to add investigators would help the success of our team. Recognition by the Quebec art community of the necessity for this team is another goal.
Readers may request a subscription to Quebec's Art Alert by sending an email to: art.alerte@surete.qc.ca

This article has been posted here with the permission of ARCA's Journal of Art Crime which will publish this article in it's Spring/Summer 2011 issue.  You may subscribe to the Journal of Art Crime through ARCA's website here.