Tag Archives: art theft

Indiana Jones, the Nazi Occult Bureau, and The Grail Conspiracies

Holy Grail Nazi science Uncategorized No Comments

I stumbled on the article, “Did Nazis really try to make Zombies? The real history behind one of our weirdest WW II obsessions” by Noah Charney in Salon August 22, 2015.http://www.salon.com/2015/08/22/did_nazis_really_try_to_make_zombies_the_real_history_behind_one_of_our_weirdest_wwii_obsessions/

I almost skipped it because Zombies never have been my thing, but I recognized Noah Charney’s name as a respected and prolific author on art and related history (more on him later) so I took a look.

Glad I did.  I was already familiar with most of the Nazi explorations in the occult and strange science from my own research on various of my thrillers, particularly The Grail Conspiracies.

But for the “normal” person (not so well versed in this stuff!) Dr. Charney provides a brief but fascinating summary of the background on the Abnenerbe, the Nazi Occult Bureau, and some of its operations before and during the war.

(I had forgotten that an organization like the Ahnenerbe appeared in some of the Indiana Jones movies. For that background alone, the article is worth a look if you’re fascinated by these things—or just liked the Indiana Jones movies.)

As to the question posed, Did the Nazis really try to make zombies? Charney’s response ranges over related issues, including the weird experiences  of Dr. Josef Mengele, as well as other research on various chemicals and pills to increase stamina.

There is also a segment on the background on the George Clooney film,  Monuments Men, as the search for stolen art linked in a weird way with corpses apparently hidden away to rise again with the rise of a new Nazism. (Yes, the whole range of Nazi occult obsessions are, collectively, beyond weird!)

Anyway, I recommend the article. As to Noah Charney, Ph.D.: I had first come on his name as I was researching my  thriller, Infinite Doublecross, as he has written several books and articles on art theft and forgery. (Full disclosure: I’ve never met him.)  I think the best overview is via his book list on Amazon:  Noah Charney books

Art Theft of the New Millennium

art theft thriller Uncategorized No Comments

Some folks become connoisseurs of fine paintings. Since I started writing my thriller,  Infinite Doublecross The South of France: Art theft, art forgery, and artful duplicity I seem to have become a connoisseur of fine art thefts.  Here’s a “good” theft I’d forgotten about.

The sub-head for a recent article in The Daily Beast says it all: “As the world celebrated the dawn of a new millennium in 2000, a thief broke intro Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum and stole a Cezanne painting. It, and the thief, have never been found.”

You’ll find the article by Allison McNearney at http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-cezanne-stolen-in-the-perfect-art-heist-for-a-new-millennium

At that time, the painting was estimated at $4.8.  Probably would sell for a lot more now . . . IF, that is, it could be offered on the market.  Who would buy a stolen painting? Answer: Lots of bad guys (as we’ve discussed in this blog previously,as well as in more detail in Infinite Doublecross).

 

 

 

Need a spare $10 Million? Catch an art thief!

art theft thriller 1 Comment

The biggest art theft in history took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner  Museum in Boston back in the spring of 1990.  Two men, allegedly posing as police, made off with works by, among others, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and Manet.

None of the paintings have ever been found, even though the museum offered a reward of $5 million. But now . . .

Now the reward has been doubled to $10 million. Time to stop thinking about it and start finding those crooks!

For more, see  Nina Siegal’s article in Bloomberg, “Cracking the Biggest Art Heist in History”

The image on the cover is adapted from the painting, “Antibes, Afternoon Effect,” by Claude Monet in 1888. Of this painting, Monet wrote, “I am painting Antibes as a small fortified town glistening golden in the sun, and standing out against the beautiful blue and pink mountains.”
The Château Grimaldi is at the center of the painting. Picasso lived and worked in the Château for a while after World War II. It is now a used as a museum, mainly for the works of Picasso, where an early scene of Infinite Doublecross takes place.
The font used on the cover is Matisse, styled on the work Henri Matisse, 1869-1954, who, like Pablo Picasso, worked in the south of France. “When I realized that every morning I would see this light again,” Matisse wrote when he first came to Nice, “I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.”

Or, if you’re not quite ready to undertake cracking that case yourself, maybe it’s time to read my art-theft thriller,

Infinite Doublecross The South of France: Art theft, art forgery, and artful duplicity

To buy it on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N0MGTDB?tag=ammbt-20

Stolen Art, Dirty Money, an INFINITE DOUBLECROSS (and an article in the New York Times)

art theft thriller International crime blog No Comments

The New York Times today ran a long article, “Has the Art Market Become an Unwitting Partner in Crime?” It looks at the intertwining roles of the super-rich, art thieves and forgers, money launderers, and shady art dealers–almost sounds like those bad folks got ideas from my international crime thriller, INFINITE DOUBLECROSS.

One pull-out: “The art market is an ideal playing ground for money laundering.”  Another: “Beyond the question of money-laundering, some experts say the anonymity of buyers and sellers hinders their ability to track ownership, a key element in establishing a work’s authenticity.”

Here’s the article: NYTimes February 20, 2017 https://nyti.ms/2lxbFJe

The illustration, from the Times, is Au Lit: Le Baiser, Toulouse-Lautrac

Read the first 100-plus pages of INFINITE DOUBLECROSS — FREE!

Uncategorized No Comments

CLICK HERE TO START READING  — FREE!

The image on the cover is adapted from the painting, “Antibes, Afternoon Effect,” by Claude Monet in 1888. Of this painting, Monet wrote, “I am painting Antibes as a small fortified town glistening golden in the sun, and standing out against the beautiful blue and pink mountains.”

The Château Grimaldi is at the center of the painting. Picasso lived and worked in the Château for a while after World War II. It is now a used as a museum, mainly for the works of Picasso, where an early scene of Infinite Doublecross takes place.

The font used on the cover is Matisse, styled on the work Henri Matisse, 1869-1954, who, like Pablo Picasso, worked in the south of France. “When I realized that every morning I would see this light again,” Matisse wrote when he first came to Nice, “I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.”