Art Crime Detectives Expose the Ugly Truths of the Art World

Every day across the world, an art crime is taking place, from Harmony Korine’s 2014 Blue Checker painting being swiped from an office lobby, to ISIS' looting of historical antiquities in Palmyra. These artworks get passed from hand to hand while our general perception of art world crimes is what we gather from blockbuster movies: museum heists, counterfeit rings, and blue blood betrayals.

But are they that dramatic and covert?

We decided to reach out to some real life art crime investigators to learn about the greedy underbelly of the art world. The Creators Project interviewed Jordan Arnold and Mark Fishstein from K2 Intelligence at their investigative consultancy's New York City headquarters. K2 Intelligence offers an "Art Risk Advisory" to art clients, from heirs and artists, to cultural institutions and dealers. In real life, the art crimes handled by public and private law enforcement agencies are still just considered crimes. There’s no high-minded art jargon or art preservation preference involved. Art crime detectives do the important work of keeping the value of masterpieces regulated and protecting artists' global reputations. Whether it’s a coveted baseball card collection or a stolen multi-million dollar canvas, these law professionals take their cases seriously and look to make the largest unregulated marketplace in the world—art—more just.

Detectives Arnold and Fishstein investigate all forms of art theft and fraud. Trending in today’s marketplace are rampant counterfeits sold on eBay and fabricated authenticating documents that prove that artworks or antiquities are real. Arnold cites advancements in technology as the leading precursor to art crimes. “Counterfeiters have never had more tools at their disposal than they do today," he explains. "Technology has made it a lot easier to create counterfeit works and also provenance documents that back up the works. You have incredibly sophisticated fraudsters who are outright fabricating ostensibly authenticated works of art. If you think of the tools that a graphic designer has in this day and age in the hands of an art fraudster, the realities come into focus. Technology is making it easier to forge and counterfeit."

The private detectives work on a variety of cases, from developing evidence against an art dealer who committed multi-million dollar fraud, to tracking down witnesses in the US, the Caribbean, and Europe in connection with an art dispute, to investigating the theft of a seven-figure picture. Don’t let the suits fool you—these detectives employ many on-the-ground tactics as they bestow analytical and advisory knowledge to the cases they work on. They often research art crimes for years, go undercover, and use social media check-ins to track criminals. They are by-the-book law enforcers as well as art aficionados.

While Arnold and Fishstein were both public law officials first, they both cite that their interest and passion for art history and knowledge started from family influence. Arnold, who previously worked as Assistant District Attorney at the New York County District Attorney’s Office, now acts as the managing director of the K2 intelligence office. He never formally studied art in college, but found he had a real interest in solving art crimes. Growing up, he was influenced by his sculptor/artist grandfather, who became known for making life-sized works. Fishstein served as the New York Police Department’s art detective for decades before coming onboard as the lead investigator in the Art Risk Advisory practice. Born to a graphic artist father, Fishstein found himself developing an art crime beat for himself.  He says, “I spent 22 years with the New York City Police Department. The last 12 of them as detective in the major case squad. Primarily, I was responsible for the cases involving stolen art. I did other cases as well, kidnappings, burglaries, the regular stuff. But the art stuff was my specialty and what I enjoyed doing very well.“

Before joining K2 Intelligence, Arnold and Fishstein both worked on the 2013 Damien Hirst Counterfeit Case where a defendant was accused of trying to pass off fake “spin” and “dot” paintings worth thousands of dollars. The defendant was a graphic designer by training and paired his technical skills with technology to create elaborate bills of sale, receipts, and counterfeit artworks.

In the official press statement from The Office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr: “In December 2012, [the defendant] submitted a spin painting purportedly by Damien Hirst to Sotheby’s, an auction house in Manhattan, where it was to be considered for sale in March 2013. He also allegedly informed Sotheby’s that he owned a second Hirst spin painting. In January 2013, Science Ltd., Damien Hirst’s studio in London, determined that the first spin painting was a counterfeit. Science Ltd. then contacted the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.”

Then, “Sotheby’s notified [the defendant] that an expert had determined the painting was not authentic, and therefore, would not be included in the auction. Later that day, [the defendant] allegedly offered to sell two Hirst spin paintings to the undercover detective, as well as three Hirst dot limited edition prints, entitled Valium, Opium, and LSD. He assured the detective of the artwork’s authenticity, and suggested that the spin paintings were each worth between $120,000 and $140,000. After negotiations, [the defendant] agreed to sell to the detective both spin paintings and the three dot prints for $185,000.”

Arnold warns art buyers against the deal that looks too good to be true. He says that all art buyers are prone to hunting for the bargain—from novice to serious collectors—and should consider the desired artwork and the seller. Buyers should stay away from sellers on sites like eBay that try to take the transaction offline. “If you are willing to purchase art on Ebay and they [art dealers] are willing to take it offline to save on the fees, they are demonstrating to you that they are willing to get outside of the protections of you as the buyer would otherwise have in the marketplace,” says Arnold.

In New York City alone, the District Attorney’s Office prosecutes a large range of art crimes, from modern art, to Impressionist masterpieces, to Ancient Greek antiquities. Art crimes are hard to classify under one umbrella as each case and the broken laws they comprise are diverse, from grand larceny, to the criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree. The law doesn’t classify the difference between stealing a Miro and stealing a car, but art crime investigators do. They're on the case to protect the buyers and sellers of art. Yet Arnold and Fishstein hope that their efforts go further than protecting transactions.

Says Arnold, “One of the greatest outcomes of the work that we do is we can help protect the integrity of an artist’s work and make sure that it's not being diluted by bad actors who might seek to counterfeit it or pass bad title to it.” Like artmaking itself, there is a lot of labor behind it.

To learn more about K2 Intelligence and their Art Risk Advisory, click here.

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