Art theft - Sandy Nairne

In 1994 two important paintings by J.M.W. Turner-then valued at
twenty-four million pounds-were stolen from a German public gallery
while on loan from Tate Britain. In this vivid, personal account, Sandy
Nairne who was then Director of Programmes at the Tate and became
centrally involved in the pursuit of the paintings and the negotiations
for their return, retells this complex, 8-year, cloak-and-dagger story,
which finally concluded in 2002 with the pictures returning to public
display at the Tate.

In addition to this thrilling narrative, Nairne unravels stories of
other high-value art thefts, puzzling what motivates a thief to steal a
well-known work of art that cannot be sold, even on the black market.
Nairne also examines the role of art theft within the larger underworld
of international looting and illicit deals among art and antique
collectors. The art heist, of course, is a popular theme of crime novels
and films, and Nairne considers these depictions as well, investigating
the imaginative construction of the art thief, the specialist
detective, and the mysterious collector.

Art Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners is a compelling, real-life detective story that will keep both art and mystery lovers eagerly turning pages.