Meet the Dutch art detective who tracks down stolen masterpieces
NPR • • general
Key Points:
- Arthur Brand, known as the "Indiana Jones of the art world," has spent over two decades recovering more than 150 stolen artworks, often succeeding where police cannot.
- Brand operates independently, bridging the trust gap between police and informants, and funds much of his work himself, motivated by the thrill of the chase rather than financial gain.
- His entry into art recovery was unconventional, apprenticing under Michel van Rijn, a controversial figure in the art underworld, which taught him the value of honesty in a world rife with betrayal.
- Brand collaborates with Octave Durham, a reformed bank robber with street contacts, to gain informants' trust and recover stolen art without seeking arrests or rewards.
- A notable success
