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The Criminal Dynamics of Art Crime in the European Union

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The Criminal Dynamics of Art Crime in the European Union The Criminal Dynamics of Art Crime in the European Union. Naomi Oosterman City University London Art, Crime, and Criminals: Painting Fresh Pictures of Theft, Fraud, and Plunder. PANEL: Are existing security measures able to protect public and private art theft? Queen Mary University of London, 21st June 2016. Overview presentation • Introduction • Research Design • Research Focus • EU policy art crime & Databases • Methods • Preliminary Results Research Design RESEARCH FOCUS • What are the criminal dynamics of art crime in the European Union? METHODS • Art crime database - Social Network Analysis • Law enforcement - Interviews/Secondary data analysis • Museum (professionals) - Interviews/ Observations LOCATION(S) • United Kingdom • The Netherlands • Italy - COMMON DENOMINATOR Research Focus – EU collaboration • What are the criminal dynamics of art crime in the European Union? Becker, 1982 / Bourdieu, 1993 / Griswold, 1994 / Ericson, 2007 Networks and collaboration Division of labour Cultural Diamond Police as ‘information broker’ Relevant EU Presidency’s The Netherlands 2004 France 2008 Poland 2011 The EU regarding art crime Relevant EU presidency’s • 2004 – The Netherlands - Member states should (in any aspect) have an art crime database - Implementation of a non-binding agreement that every member state should set up and maintain an art crime database. • 2008 – France - Call for a European database of stolen art - EU Council adopted a non-binding conclusion on the fight against the illicit trafficking in cultural objects - Called for greater police cooperation between member states and for the designation of contact points • 2011 – Poland - Questionnaire on cultural property crimes amongst member states - Resulted in the enhancement of cooperation with Interpol on developing and implementing a system for urgent responses and reports of key events - Development of a handbook Databases • Interpol Works of Art Database Focal point of the study • Art Loss Register • Leonardo Database (Italy) • ArtClaim (ARG) Research Methods • Art crime database - Social Network Analysis • Law enforcement - Interviews/Secondary data analysis • Museum (professionals) - Interviews/ Observations Database Country Paintings Drawings Sculptures Installations TOTALS Austria 224 23 79 4 330 Belgium 328 8 233 30 599 Denmark 32 1 45 4 82 Finland 0 0 0 0 0 France 326 326 326 75 1053 Germany 244 17 102 1 364 Ireland 7 0 1 3 11 Italy 332 85 332 22 771 Lithuania 47 0 3 1 51 Norway 2 0 3 7 12 Spain 104 21 131 5 261 Sweden 56 5 41 5 107 The Netherlands 270 32 82 8 392 The United Kingdom 142 7 72 27 248 VARIABLES Type Year Country Movement Date Place Artist CitySize Nationality Locations Observations Observations Observations Interviews • Law enforcement agencies in Italy, The United Kingdom, and the Netherlands (+ some extra’s) • Museum professionals – mostly curators/security employees/conservators • Legal professionals – mostly loss adjusters/insurance specialists • Criminal(s) – convicted forger Building upon theoretical foundation of art worlds (Becker, 1982) and art fields (Bourdieu, 1972). Some very preliminary results… • Database • Interviews • Observations Database Country & City Movement Top canon The Netherlands The Hague Baroque 16.3% Spain Madrid Realism 7.8% Jaume Denmark Holstebro Asian Art 7.7% ES Plensa United Kingdom London Neo-Abstractionism 6.6% France Paris Romanticism 6.6% Pablo Sweden Stockholm ES Picasso Austria Vienna + Salvador ES Dali Lithuania Kaunas Norway Bergen Post-Impressionism 6.2% BEL/FR Marc Chagall Ireland Dublin Impressionism 5.6% AU Marie Egner Nationality Demo French 6.5% Small City 60.0% Spanish 3.4% UK 3.1% UNK Medium City 5.9% German 2.5% Hungarian 2.1% Large City 34.1% Interviews “It’s about visitors and lending art, it’s about big parties that connect to you in terms of funding. So despite the risks, regarding the safety of the visitors and the safety of the art in regards to events; it really is the risk of damage to your reputation that we are talking about today”. – Head of Security and Safety Department / Large museum “You know, we are one of the biggest offices in Europe, we have over a hundred specialists alone. And only one of them specializes in art and jewelry. He is mostly working on jewels”. – Former employee of an insurance company “There is no such thing as ‘art crime’, only crimes that are related to art and antiques. I mean, who decides what art is and what is not? In that aspect there is definitely the need for a new code”. – Dedicated art crime law enforcement professional Interviews “No one is just going to leave [here] with an art work, it is virtually impossible”. – Everyone The Criminal Dynamics of Art Crime in the European Union. Naomi Oosterman City University London Art, Crime, and Criminals: Painting Fresh Pictures of Theft, Fraud, and Plunder. PANEL: Are existing security measures able to protect public and private art theft? Queen Mary University of London, 21st June 2016..
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