THIEVES AND ART

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 229, 30 October 1930, Page 11

THIEVES AND ART

HOW PICTURES ARE STOLEN. CLEARING HOUSE IN PARIS. Investigations into the recent outhrealc of thefts of valuable pictures in England 'liave led to the diseovery that the clearing house for the proceeds of raids of this description is a little office in Paris. The Sunday Ohronicle has been given full particulars of the workihgs of this office. hy one who recently, visited it. "In this office were to he found reference flies giving tlie present home of almost every picture of value," he said. "Any saies were carefully checked from the newspapers and the "new address of the old master carefully noted. "Tho tliieves thus worked system--atically, choosing their pictures hefereliand and knowing exactly where they were to be found." A correspondent says : — "In Paris there are a number of studios where well-known pictures are exhibited. You meet an 'arty' Ioolcing man in a cafe. He learns tliat you are interested in pictures, and he offers to .conduct you to a studio wliere a unique collection is on view. You are shown four r five good pictures all cut out of their fram.es. You buy one for casli, and the words that echo in your \cars as you get into your taxi are, 'Don't trouble tb come back in an liour's time, hecause we shan't be here!' "I ouce visited a studio in this way in the company of a wealthy American, and on returning ten minutes after the sale I found only a puzzled liousekeeper, _who told me that tliere was no one in the house." The pictures, of course, are sold as copies, and at the moment tliere are probably many people with pictures ' which they believe to be copies, but ; which are actually worth thousands of pounds.