Art collectors told to be wary

2008-02-12 21:02

Cape Town - South African art collectors have every reason to be concerned in the wake of the weekend's Swiss art heist, according to an art insurer.

Sunday's theft from a Zurich museum of a Van Gogh, a Cezanne, a Degas and a Monet, was one of the biggest ever in Europe - and there has been speculation that the thieves will ask for a ransom.

Gordon Massie, managing director of South African art insurance specialist Artinsure, said on Tuesday local collectors should be concerned about their own treasures being kidnapped.

"The value of South African collections is growing in quantum leaps as works reach record levels at auction and could become targets for this kind of ransom-driven attack," he said.

"Kidnapping and theft of high value art for ransom is becoming more common and requires extreme vigilance by owners who need to take special precautions."

He said the Swiss paintings were famous and easily recognisable, which made them extremely difficult to sell.

Irrespective of the reason for the robbery, insurers would have fully paid the owners of the works and would now be trying to recover them.

"Recovery may take three to five years but statistics show that the major pieces do eventually reappear," he said.

- SAPA