Reviews - Der Meisterdieb: Eine wahre Geschichte von Kunst, Obsession und Zerstörung

5.29k reviews for:

Der Meisterdieb: Eine wahre Geschichte von Kunst, Obsession und Zerstörung

Michael Finkel

3.97 AVERAGE

marshal_ray's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

krowkid's review against another edition

4.25

Art is the result of facing almost no survival pressure at all. It’s the product of leisure time. Our big brains, the most complex instruments known in the universe, have been released from the vigilance of evading predators and seeking sustenance, permitting our imagination to gambol and explore, to dream while awake, to share visions of God. Art signals our freedom. It exists because we’ve won the evolutionary war.

The Art Thief tells the true story of Stéphane Breitwieser, a man obsessed with owning beauty rather than buying it. Living in his mother’s attic, he built his own private museum filled with hundreds of stolen artworks. He didn’t use force or high tech tricks, just timing, nerve, and luck. It’s wild how easily he pulled off so many thefts, often improvising on the spot. The book packs a lot of detail into a short read, so it can feel repetitive, but it’s still gripping. It reads like fiction, yet every part is true, which makes it even more shocking. At its core, it’s a study of obsession, compulsion, and a life consumed by art.