An Art Expert on Where The Magnani-Rocca’s Stolen Art Might Wind Up
To Kimiko Bossi of Finarte, the recent theft at the Magnani-Rocca Foundation has a broader significance. “This is a very hard blow not only to the institution involved, but to the entire art world,” she says. “It represents a serious episode, both for the economic value of the works, and, above all, for their cultural importance.”Bossi is the Senior Director and Expert of Modern and Contemporary Art at the renowned auction house, and her comments come as the world comes to terms with the loss of substantial works of renowned masters. On March 22, thieves stole a Renoir, a Cézanne, and a Matisse from the legendary museum in the village of Mamiano di Traversetolo, near Parma.The theft raises serious questions about what happens when well-documented work makes it to the black market. Vanity Fair Italia spoke to Bossi about the art crime system that springs into action after such a tragic event.“We are talking about very recognizable works, stolen in a manner that is now the focus of law enforcement investigations,” she says. “If they were put back on the market they would be immediately intercepted. Episodes of this kind remind us how necessary it is to continue to invest in security and paying attention to the traceability of the works.’Vanity Fair Italia: Where do these paintings end up?Kimiko Bossi: Such famous works cannot be sold. I fear their fate is to vanish into silence, hidden in the shadows for years—in a private dimension of illegality, in some vault who knows where. The hope is that the great skill of our law enforcement agencies will ensure that they can be recovered as soon as possible.How difficult is it for auction houses to intercept stolen works re-entering the market? If a stolen work arrives, what should be done about it? What actions should be put in place?When such well-known works are stolen, the legal market is not an option. An auction house would never deal in works of dubious provenance. That’s why such episodes feed criminal circuits that have nothing to do with our sector. On the contrary, companies like ours operate with very careful protocols, because being able to recognize a stolen work is a professional duty, in the protection of our clients.For an auction house like Finarte, combating illicit trafficking is a top priority: every work that enters our catalogs is subjected to rigorous checks, cross-referenced with national and international databases. We have an agreement with the Art Loss Register thanks to which all the goods we deal with are preemptively checked and verified that they are not in the international databases of works that have been stolen or reported missing. The ALR is an international body that has been performing this role since 1990, and through its activities and collaboration with the most virtuous players in the market, it effectively combats the trade in stolen works.
