He robbed the Van Gogh Museum. Now he wants to help secure the Louvre

Octave Durham has a question for the Louvre, a year after the revered French museum fell victim to what was dubbed the “heist of the century.”

“Why don’t they approach me to do the security?”

Durham is not a security specialist or even a trained guard, but a former art thief. Now “retired” from a life of crime, the 53-year-old describes himself on his Instagram account as the “Dutch Lupin,” inspired by the gentleman thief made famous by French star Omar Sy on Netflix.

There’s no doubting Durham’s credentials. “I robbed banks, safety deposits, armored trucks. You name it, I robbed it,” he said in a phone interview.

Then, in 2002, he and an accomplice broke into Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, making off with two paintings by the post-impressionist. Durham was later apprehended and served time in prison for the crime, but not before selling the paintings to a notorious crime boss who was later found in possession of the art.

These days, Durham is still interested in stolen art –– but with the aim of doing good. He uses his underworld contacts to help recover some of these priceless artworks. Durham never gets paid, saying he does it mostly for “fun,” adding “it feels good to make people happy.”

But suggest he is an informant and he immediately hits back. “I’m not an informant, I’m a contact. It’s a big difference. I don’t talk to police.”

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The person he does talk to is Arthur Brand, a Dutch self-styled detective known as the “Indiana Jones of the art world” who works alongside international police forces. According to Brand, Durham was key to the recovery of another stolen Van Gogh that made headlines in 2023. Taken from a Dutch museum in 2020, “Spring Garden” was later handed to Brand in a blue IKEA bag –– and he subsequently transferred it to the authorities.

Brand has since helped recover a Pieter Brueghel masterpiece stolen in Poland in the 1970s and a painting looted from a Jewish family by the Nazi Hermann Göring, among other things. “I’ve had Picassos at my home and a ring of Oscar Wilde,” said Brand, who earns his living advising art collectors on prospective purchases.

The detective work is a pro bono side hustle –– and one that appears likely to get busier. Just hours after the Louvre heist last October –– which saw thieves strike during broad daylight and make off with Napoleonic-era treasures –– another French museum was similarly targeted. This time, burglars stole gold and silver coins worth more than $100,000.

Since then, attacks on museums, galleries and other cultural institutions have never been far from the headlines. Two Renoirs were stolen from the Renoir Museum on the French Riviera last month (and found weeks later). Another Renoir, a Cézanne and a Matisse were taken from the Magnani Rocca Foundation near Parma, Italy, in March (and also later recovered), while four Renaissance paintings by Antonello da Messina were seized from a Sicilian museum in August. That same month, criminals nabbed a $4 million diamond necklace from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts (MAK).

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A recent report by the European Policing Agency (Europol) warned that museum thieves are becoming increasingly brazen, violent and aggressive.

“Art theft has always been there,” said Brand. “I always say if art was invented on Monday, the first art was stolen on Tuesday and the first art was forged on Wednesday.”

Nevertheless, he admits things have ramped up over the past year since the Louvre heist. “I talk to ex-thieves, and they hear from current thieves who say, ‘wow, the Louvre, let’s do it.’ They’re thinking: ‘If that’s possible, our local museum must be even more simple.’”

When these heists happen, would-be art thieves are emboldened, Brand says. “Banks these days have less cash, jewelry shops are better secured, so they turn to museums. They’re vulnerable. It’s like a candy shop for thieves.”

While the problem is global, European galleries are particularly enticing for burglars, according to Brand. For one, much of the world’s commercially valuable art hails from there. And then there’s security.

“Museums in Europe don’t have armed guards,” he said, adding that many are housed in historic buildings dating as far back as the 15th century. “It’s not Fort Knox.”

Such “copycat” crimes following the Louvre heist are regarded as relatively risk-free, according to Ibrahim Balut, a museum security expert based in Belgium.

“What we are seeing more and more of is smash and grab. Offenders aren’t scared anymore,” he said. “In Vienna, in the Renoir Museum and in the Louvre, they entered and left with the objects in less than three minutes. They come well prepared and attack in a short time.”

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Having recently visited the Louvre, Durham believes the world’s largest art museum is still vulnerable. “It has weak spots all over,” he said, adding that he spotted cracked windows. “They have secured the spot where they did the burglary. They put an iron fence over the entrance where they went in and a camera on the top. But what is the chance they will go back to the same spot? All the windows on the side are still the same.”

The Louvre did not respond to a request for comment from CNN.

The Europol report, meanwhile, revealed that these heists are increasingly using tools such as sledgehammers, axes, crowbars –– and even explosives.

“Offenders are using more heavy material because everything is battery powered now,” explained Balut. “So they can use electrical equipment that are flexible, easier to handle, and they can attack quite fast.”

It is the very nature of museums that makes them vulnerable, said Balut. “The mission and vision of a museum is to be open. It’s not like a bank or jewelry store where you cannot enter easily. In a museum it’s all open and the only thing holding you back from going immediately towards an object is a showcase or maybe a guard.”

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“Museums are investing more and more in security, but you have to understand that criminals are also getting more educated about things,” he added. “They have been to the museum to do a dry run, to see the items, what they can easily grab, how easy it is to flee.”

Balut offers cultural institutions expert safety guidance, or, as he sees it: “I sell time. When criminals see that the reaction time of security and police is far faster, they will never do it again.”

That involves a strategy that invests in people and not just cameras. “Security awareness must be at the forefront of everyone’s minds, not just the security staff but the museum directors, the curators, the restorers.”

The focus of art crime has also changed, according to Brand. “In the last 10 years, we’ve seen a shift to gold, silver, diamonds. You can melt them down or recut diamonds, leaving no evidence.”

So why are priceless paintings still being targeted?

“It’s stupidity,” said Brand. “They see that a painting by Van Gogh could be worth 50 million, so they think ‘well, it takes four minutes, let’s go and grab it.’ And then the problems start.”

“They turn on the television the day after and find out that this painting is flagged in every database. Sometimes they think they’ll find a Dr. No, some villain who has this stash of stolen art. But they don’t exist.”

Nevertheless, Brand admits some steal art as a kind of bargaining tool. “In the underworld, a stolen painting is worth 10% of what its value is on the market so it could be collateral,” he said.

“Sometimes a mafia boss buys a stolen painting as insurance. Then one day, when he gets caught, he’ll say: ‘You want to give me 20 years for drugs, but I have a stolen Van Gogh. Let’s make a deal.’”

Another group of people with whom Brand is in regular contact is museum staff.

“They’re panicking,” he said. “You must understand that people who work in museums, and it could be a curator or an expert or a museum director, they study art. They love art. It’s so out of their world, these crimes, and they don’t even want to think about it. So they are not prepared.”

Lynda Albertson, head of the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, said criminals exploit a combination of factors: “Valuable, portable objects, in museums with identifiable security weaknesses, whose protection needs exceed their currently exercised security resources.”

She said that while some museums are “doing a great deal” to improve security measures, others “have serious gaps.”

“A camera can give you an excellent record of a theft without stopping it. Protection requires layers: current risk assessments, appropriate physical barriers and display cases, maintained alarms, trained staff, and a response that has actually been rehearsed,” said Albertson. Things like these matter “just as much as having someone watching a room or the entrance.”

“Unfortunately, donors rarely queue up to put their names on an upgraded alarm system or to pay for additional guards, but those investments can determine whether a collection is targeted or not,” she said.

As for Durham, he would happily give the Louvre some pointers, if given half a chance. “If they asked me, I would show them that I can still get in.”

在备受尊崇的法国博物馆卢浮宫遭遇被誉为“世纪大劫案”一年后，奥克塔夫·杜伦向卢浮宫提出了一个问题。

“为什么他们不来找我做安保工作呢？”

杜伦并非安保专家，甚至也不是受过专业训练的保安，而是一名前艺术品窃贼。如今，这位53岁的男子已“金盆洗手”，告别了犯罪生涯。他在Instagram账号上自称“荷兰鲁宾”，灵感来源于法国明星奥马尔·希在Netflix剧集中饰演的著名绅士窃贼鲁宾。

杜伦的犯罪经历毋庸置疑。“我抢过银行、保险箱、运钞车。凡是你能想到的，我都抢过。”他在电话采访中说道。

2002年，他与一名同伙闯入阿姆斯特丹的梵高博物馆，盗走了两幅后印象派画家的画作。杜伦后来被捕，并因这起罪行入狱服刑，但在此之前，他已将画作卖给了一位臭名昭著的犯罪头目，此人后来被发现持有这些画作。

如今，杜伦依然对失窃艺术品感兴趣——但他的目的是为了行善。他利用自己在黑道的人脉关系，帮助追回一些无价之宝。杜伦从不收取任何报酬，他说自己这么做主要是为了“好玩”，并补充道：“让别人开心感觉很好。”

但如果你暗示他是线人，他立刻反驳道：“我不是线人，我是联络人。这有很大的区别。我不跟警察说话。”

米歇尔·阿伯克龙比/CNN

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他交谈的对象是亚瑟·布兰德，一位自诩为“艺术界的印第安纳·琼斯”的荷兰侦探，与国际执法机构合作。据布兰德称，杜伦在追回另一幅2023年轰动一时的梵高失窃画作的过程中发挥了关键作用。这幅名为《春园》的画作于2020年从荷兰一家博物馆被盗，后来被人用一个蓝色宜家购物袋装着交给了布兰德——随后他又将画作移交给了警方。

此后，布兰德曾帮助追回一幅20世纪70年代在波兰被盗的彼得·勃鲁盖尔杰作，以及一幅被纳粹赫尔曼·戈林从一个犹太家庭掠夺的画作，等等。“我家里曾挂过毕加索的画作，还有一枚奥斯卡·王尔德的戒指，”布兰德说道，他的工作是为艺术收藏家提供购买建议。

侦探工作是义务性质的副业，而且似乎会越来越忙。去年十月卢浮宫被盗后仅仅几个小时——窃贼光天化日之下作案，盗走了拿破仑时代的珍宝——另一家法国博物馆也遭遇了类似的盗窃。这一次，窃贼偷走了价值超过10万美元的金银币。

此后，针对博物馆、画廊和其他文化机构的袭击事件频频登上新闻头条。上个月，法国里维埃拉的雷诺阿博物馆两幅雷诺阿的画作被盗（数周后寻回）。今年3月，意大利帕尔马附近的马尼亚尼·罗卡基金会又被盗走一幅雷诺阿的作品、一幅塞尚的作品和一幅马蒂斯的作品（后也已寻回）。8月，西西里岛一家博物馆的四幅安东内洛·达·梅西纳的文艺复兴时期画作被盗。同月，维也纳应用艺术博物馆（MAK）一条价值400万美元的钻石项链也被盗。

Max Slovencik/APA-Images/Shutterstock

欧洲刑警组织（Europol）最近的一份报告警告说，博物馆窃贼变得越来越肆无忌惮、暴力和具有攻击性。

“艺术品盗窃一直存在，”布兰德说。“我常说，如果艺术是在星期一被发明出来的，那么第一件艺术品就是在星期二被盗的，而第一件艺术品就是在星期三被伪造的。”

然而，他承认，自从卢浮宫被盗以来，过去一年里，盗窃案确实愈演愈烈。“我跟一些前窃贼聊过，他们也从现在的窃贼那里听到这样的说法：‘哇，卢浮宫，我们也去偷！’他们心里想：‘如果卢浮宫都能被偷，那我们当地的博物馆肯定更容易下手。’”

布兰德说，每当这类盗窃案发生，潜在的艺术品窃贼就会更加胆大妄为。“如今银行现金减少，珠宝店安保措施加强，所以他们就把目标转向博物馆。博物馆很容易成为目标，对窃贼来说就像糖果店一样。”

布兰德指出，虽然这个问题是全球性的，但欧洲的画廊对窃贼来说尤其具有吸引力。首先，世界上许多具有商业价值的艺术品都来自欧洲。其次，还有安保问题。

“欧洲的博物馆没有武装警卫，”他说道，并补充说，许多博物馆都位于可以追溯到15世纪的历史建筑中。“这里不是诺克斯堡。”

比利时博物馆安全专家易卜拉欣·巴鲁特表示，卢浮宫劫案之后发生的此类“模仿”犯罪被认为风险相对较低。

“我们现在看到的越来越多是砸抢案。犯罪分子不再害怕了，”他说。“在维也纳的雷诺阿博物馆和卢浮宫，他们不到三分钟就进出，带着文物逃之夭夭。他们准备充分，行动迅速。”

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Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images

杜伦最近参观了卢浮宫，他认为这座世界最大的艺术博物馆仍然存在安全隐患。“它到处都是薄弱环节，”他说，并补充道他看到了有裂缝的窗户。“他们已经封锁了作案地点。他们在入口处加装了铁栅栏，并在顶部安装了摄像头。但他们再次从同一个地点作案的可能性有多大？侧面的所有窗户都还完好无损。”

卢浮宫没有回应 CNN 的置评请求。

与此同时，欧洲刑警组织的报告显示，这些抢劫案越来越多地使用大锤、斧头、撬棍，甚至炸药等工具。

巴鲁特解释说：“犯罪分子现在使用更重型的材料，因为所有东西都用电池供电了。所以他们可以使用灵活、易于操作的电子设备，而且作案速度很快。”

巴鲁特说，博物馆的本质决定了它们很容易受到攻击。“博物馆的使命和愿景是开放的。它不像银行或珠宝店那样难以进入。在博物馆里，一切都是开放的，唯一阻止你直接靠近展品的可能只有展柜或保安。”

Lou Benoist/Pool/路透社

“博物馆在安保方面投入越来越多，但你必须明白，犯罪分子也在不断学习和改进，”他补充道。“他们会去博物馆进行演练，看看展品，哪些东西容易拿走，逃跑有多容易。”

巴鲁特为文化机构提供专业的安全指导，或者用他自己的话说：“我卖的是时间。当犯罪分子看到安保人员和警察的反应速度快得多时，他们就再也不会作案了。”

这意味着要采取一种重视人员而非仅仅重视摄像头的策略。“安全意识必须成为每个人的首要任务，不仅是安保人员，还有博物馆馆长、策展人和修复人员。”

布兰德表示，艺术品犯罪的重点也发生了变化。“过去十年，我们看到犯罪目标转向了黄金、白银和钻石。你可以把它们熔化掉，或者重新切割钻石，不留任何痕迹。”

那么，为什么无价之宝的画作仍然成为攻击目标呢？

“这太愚蠢了，”布兰德说。“他们看到一幅梵高的画作可能价值5000万美元，就想‘好吧，只需要四分钟，我们去把它抢过来吧。’然后问题就来了。”

“他们第二天打开电视，发现这幅画在所有数据库中都被标记了。有时他们会想，会不会找到像诺博士那样的人物，某个藏匿了大量赃物的恶棍。但这种人根本不存在。”

然而，布兰德承认，有些人会把偷来的艺术品当作一种谈判筹码。“在黑社会，一幅被盗的画作价值只有市场价的10%，所以它可以作为抵押品，”他说。

“有时候，黑手党老大会买一幅赃物画来投保。然后有一天，当他被抓的时候，他会说：‘你们想因为我贩毒判我20年，但我有一幅偷来的梵高画。我们来做个交易吧。’”

布兰德经常联系的另一群人是博物馆工作人员。

“他们慌了，”他说。“你必须明白，在博物馆工作的人，无论是策展人、专家还是馆长，他们都研究艺术，热爱艺术。这些犯罪事件完全超出了他们的认知范围，他们甚至都不愿去想。所以他们毫无准备。”

艺术犯罪研究协会负责人琳达·阿尔伯特森表示，犯罪分子会利用多种因素：“贵重、可移动的物品，在安全存在明显漏洞的博物馆中，这些物品的保护需求超过了博物馆目前动用的安全资源。”

她说，虽然有些博物馆在加强安保措施方面“做了很多工作”，但其他博物馆“存在严重漏洞”。

“摄像头可以为你提供盗窃过程的详细记录，但并不能阻止盗窃的发生。安保措施需要多层次的保障：及时的风险评估、适当的物理屏障和展示柜、维护良好的警报系统、训练有素的员工，以及经过实际演练的应对方案，”艾伯特森说道。诸如此类的措施“与安排人员看守房间或入口同样重要”。

“不幸的是，捐赠者很少会排队把自己的名字写在升级后的警报系统上，或者出资增聘保安，但这些投入可以决定募捐活动是否具有针对性，”她说。

至于达勒姆，如果给他机会，他很乐意给卢浮宫一些建议。“如果他们问我，我会让他们知道我依然可以进去。”