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A THIEF NICKNAMED “Spiderman”, who snatched five masterpieces from a top Paris museum, was sentenced to eight years in prison today over one of the biggest art heists in recent years.
Vjeran Tomic and two accomplices were also jointly fined a whopping €104 million ($110 million) over the theft of the paintings by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Leger and Amedeo Modigliani from the Musee d’Art Moderne on the night of 20 May, 2010.
The fine corresponds to the estimated value of the artworks, which are still missing.
A lawyer representing the City of Paris, which runs the museum, called their disappearance an “unspeakable” loss to humanity.
Tomic, a 49-year-old seasoned burglar of Croatian origin, admitted robbing the gallery, which is home to more than 8,000 works of 20th-century art.
On his arrest he told police he was asked to steal Leger’s “Still Life with Candlestick” from 1922, and never imagined he would be able to grab four more.
Security lapses
The case revealed extraordinary security lapses at the museum in the ritzy 16th district, on the banks of the Seine.
The motion-detection alarms had been out of order for two months when Tomic, who staked out the building for six nights, slipped inside after using acid to dislodge a window pane.
After grabbing the Leger without creating a disturbance he went on a stealing spree, taking Picasso’s cubist Dove with Green Peas from 1912 – alone worth an estimated €25 million – Matisse’s Pastoral from 1905, Braque’s Olive Tree near Estaque from 1906, and Modigliani’s Woman with a Fan from 1919.
Three guards on duty failed to spot him. His silhouette popped up only briefly on a security camera.
The paintings were only found to be missing from their frames when the museum reopened the next day.
Jean-Michel Corvez, a 61-year-old antique dealer who admitted to ordering the theft of the Leger on behalf of an unnamed client, and Yonathan Birn, a 40-year-old watchmaker who admitted to hiding the paintings for a time, were given sentences of seven and six years respectively.
On top of their collective fine, the three men were given individual fines of between €150,000 and €200,000 each.
Corvez also had his home seized and was banned from dealing in antiques or art for five years.
‘Bored with his bourgeois life’
During the trial Birn told the court he had dumped the paintings but the court expressed doubt over that claim, noting the lack of proof of their destruction.
An art lover, he had admitted to becoming enraptured with Modigliani’s “Woman with a Fan”.
His lawyer had described him as an impressionable man, who was bored with his “nice little bourgeois life”.
Tomic, a master burglar, said he took five paintings because he “liked” them.
Athletically built and 1.90 metres (six foot 2 inches) tall, he had gained his nickname by clambering into posh Parisian apartments and museums to steal valuable gems and works of art.
He was spotted by a homeless man as he roamed around the museum in the days leading to the theft.
Police arrested him after receiving an anonymous tip and tracking his mobile phone.
There has been a spate of art thefts in Europe in recent years.
The most recent, in 2015, involved the theft of five paintings worth 25 million euros by renowned Irish-born British artist Francis Bacon in Madrid.
Spanish police arrested seven people last year suspected of being involved in that theft.
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Why did we ever need planning permission for this??
@JusticeForJoe: in case a storm takes one and someone loses a head.
@JusticeForJoe: because some people thought more than 12 panels woukd be excessive and unsightly. Times have changed.
@JusticeForJoe: to keep the public servants in employment. A pencil pushing exercise
Getting planning permission in Ireland depends very much on who is in charge of looking at it and what humour they are in on the day. We tried 3 separate designs for a sunroom and were turned down for them all. Then we met with the planners, got angry with them for being evasive and next thing you know they decided to approve our very first design.
@François Pignon: you forgot the brown envelope
@François Pignon: So they rejected three of your designs and then approved your first design?
@François Pignon:
Todays planners can’t read or interpret actual 2D drawings anymore, much less use a scale rule. They need 3D pictures these days and still won’t visit a site to meet with the applicant. That alone would save so much time.
@Jim Buckley Barrett: totally agree, it makes all the difference, but I still can’t do it! They’re so corrupt!
Shame we can’t get solar tiles here.
@Sequoia: they don’t work so probably a good thing
@Craic_a_tower: Teslas solar roof is widely accepted as a quality solar roof tile installation. They do indeed work. They just have far more limited fitment options than traditional solar.
@Sequoia: brilliant suggestion, only spoke about EV Tiles yesterday.
Apartment owners very much restricted from installing solar panels as roofs are common areas and therefore do not belong to the apartment owner.
@Dermot Cronin: Owners of apartment buildings should be legally obliged to install them, even though the savings per apartment would be minimal
@Dermot Cronin: well if you’ve no roof you can’t install solar yes that stands to reason.
@JusticeForJoe: Because they are closer to the sun?
@JusticeForJoe: apartments are already more efficient per sq foot than most houses. Roof space per dwelling in apt blocks would generally be much smaller than houses, this gets worse the more floors up you go.
Would love to hear your rationale as to legally forcing apartment owners to fit them, however I suspect you have not thought it through in any detail.
@Sean: The roof of a 4 apartment duplex could easily facilitate solar panels.
Lease and other legal restrictions can be overcome but it is a very cumbersome process.
Well done, keep the common sense decisions coming and keep reporting them.
Is there still a 50cm limit needed from edge of the roof?
@FlyingHaggis: yes I believe that is a health and safety requirement.
It proves that if they really wanted, politicians could easily change regulations when it comes to building/planning applications.
have your say