Chapter 5: Visnei, Provenance or...
The label on the stretcher: provenance evidence
Franz Visnei had owned the painting before. He had also skipped the country with Interpol and the Mounties close on his heels. A criminal lawyer named Dowding had first-hand knowledge of the case.
The trial documents revealed an undercover operation. The RCMP had been watching Visnei for years. When he jumped bail, the painting was abandoned—left behind like a ghost of better days.
Dark dealings surround practically every great art treasure in the world. James Henry Duveen had written those words decades earlier, but they seemed freshly relevant.
This is an excerpt. Read the full chapter in Art World’s Dirty Little Secret.