Art detective

When Victorine Stille gets a call from an art collector about a stolen work, the first thing she does is enter the crucial details - like artist, year and frame color - in the so-called Art Loss Register.

The central databank was founded in London in 1991 and branched have since been added in New York, Amsterdam, Paris and Cologne - where Stille works.

"What often happens is that, after it's stolen, a work circulates through the black market for about two to three years," said the art detective. "We have a theory that they turn up again after about 15 years."

Long-lost paintings might resurface at art auctions or fairs. But for the rightful owners, 15 years is too long to wait.

Cross-check at art fairs

Aiming to speed up the recovery process, Stille, who studied art management in Amsterdam, spends much of her work day researching on the Internet, scanning art auctions' Web sites. She also attends sundry exhibitions and art fairs.

"We visit art dealers' stands at fairs to protect them and their reputations, and also to protect the participants from buying stolen art," said the professional sleuth.

While she's there, she checks the works on display against the Art Loss Register to see if any have been reported as stolen.

Art thieves apparently prefer paintings, but the register also contains antiques, watches and furniture.

Stolen art on four wheels

"We even have a James Bond old-timer in our databank," said Stille. "It's a 1963 Aston Martin and was stolen in 1997 during filming. It was used in both Goldfinger and Thunderball."

She compared the car to "The Scream" by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, which was stolen from an Oslo museum in 2006 and recovered two years later: "Those are items that can never be sold," she said.

Unlike Munch's masterpiece, the Aston Martin is still at large - though Stille said suspects the thief is more likely to be driving the car around rather than hiding it in a garage somewhere.

Though the art detective and her colleagues are unlikely to spot James Bond's pride and joy on the way to the supermarket, they do have to rely sometimes on coincidence.

"It's a combination of being active and passive," said Stille. "Sometimes people just call us up and say, hey we saw this or that, or we know about a piece. But we also actively look through auction catalogues and auction houses."

Art dealers, collectors or buyers are also welcome to check the stolen art databank before investing in a piece.

So far, Stille and her team have recovered 230 million euros (US$304 million) worth of art. In Germany, approximately 180 pieces are considered missing.

Author: Murat Kojuncu / Kate Bowen

Editor: Susan Houlton