Museum of the Missing by Simon Houpt takes a very interesting look at the long and sordid history of the art world. Houpt starts with the origins of high-priced art and how auctioning masterpieces evolved from being considered shameful by the aristocracy to a center of high society. Due to very enterprising art dealers, art auctions practically got free publicity because of the ever increasingly mind-blowing prices pieces were sold at.

Houpt also delves into all types of art thieves, not just the ones who abscond with paintings during clandestine operations, but titled diplomats and conquering emperors who outright took whatever caught their fancy. From Lord Elgin to Napoleon and Hilter, Houpt goes through all the periods of history in which theft of priceless art pieces were committed in the name of the country. However, the crimes of the past are still haunting the present as countries where the prizes were looted from and individual families are suing museums for the return of the artworks.

The discussion of where the artworks truly belong interests me greatly, since as a Sophomore in high school, I had been very interested in the legal battle between the Greek government and the British Museum. The British government, in its stance that it can do nothing because the Pantheon friezes are not government property, has essentially sided with the British Museum. The reason is that by not exerting pressure on the museum to return the friezes to Greece, the British government is inadvertently keeping the marbles in the hands of the British Museum. Moreover, the British Museum says that the marbles are priceless treasures that should be shared with the world and that it transcends geo-political boundaries. But, if the Magna Carta was ever stolen during a time of war and kept in another country, Britain would fight just as hard as Greece if not more so to try to get it back.

But, by far my favorite section of the book was the chapters about art detectives, who track down priceless stolen artworks. Beyond the obvious fact that I like mystery stories and adore Sherlock Holmes, there is a certain romanticism about stolen artwork and the people who recover them. This glassy veneer becomes even more dazzling and dreamy after the release of the movie, The Thomas Crown Affairs, which made the art world sexy and dangerous. However, once one gets into the nitty-gritty of the daily toils of the art detectives, it isn’t all that pretty. I’m also intrigued by a documentary mentioned in the book titled Stolen, which interviews a detective who wears a bowler hat, an eye patch, and a fake nose.