Show 1MN r : Detective JoeKeenan only got a C inArt 101 But he's an A in the intricate art oftracking thieves 0 I I I 0 I I II iI1 EINIfi 11 E2DU The authentic "Head of Woman WASAWO LI iffi and refinement with the ets to support her love of life's fin- er things When she died last patrol at Coney Island A gunman killed a civilian and two uniformed officers officer beand the came involved in a shootout with the With Golden 4 year her executors naturally hired experts to appraise her art by Pablo Picasso The on 1 t t 111 collection—especially a treas- ured painting by Pablo Picasso — one of the geniuses of 20th-ce- n tury art and another by René Magrine the Belgian Surrealist The ex ecutors expected appraisals in the millions They got a rude shock "It was funny" Joe Keenan told me "They got art experts to come in and eval- uate the paintings One of the experts hap pened to be her former husband He walked in took one look at the Picasso and said Earrings" 1 1 ' 4I''' " 1 - 3 1 : : 1 : I — - 'That's a fake' It was a painting called 'Head of Woman With Golden Earrings' a portrait of one of Picasso's mistresses This gentleman had lived with the painting and he knew that it was supposed to be an oil on paper But this was an oil on canvas" The experts then did what art experts all i v Y Co I - If4 - - ' killer who was later killed himself Keenan was wounded in the hand After that he spent 10 years as a street patrolman in the troubled neighborhood That street exof Bedford-Stuyvesahe believes perience taught him the skills he needed to mingle in the rarefied circles of the art world "It taught me how to deal with a whole gamut of people" he said "In police work it's very important to have the help of civilians who will give you a hand and tell you things" Keenan then worked for 10 years on organized crime and undercover investigations He was made a detective in his last year when he switched to the elite Major Case Squad There a few years back a captain told him one morning: "You're going to be my art expert" By that time Detective Keenan had earned his bachelor's degree in political science at John Jay College I asked if his educational background had qualified him for the job He looked sheepish as he answered "I did take Art 101" he told me "But it was one of my worst courses I got a C" Keenan operated in the art world the t: same way he had in "I got to know people" he said "I 2 introduced myself ' f to gallery owners I x I and insurance ad- ) ‘ painting was one of two forged by thieves then put In place of the originals For eight yews they remained undetected N 1 nt : by their owner -- - -- i I ' -- -- :- over the world do when they discover a ma jor crime They called Joe Keenan "In my investigation" Keenan recalled "I was able to determine—in theory at least—that back in 1983 someone who had access to the apartment switched the paint ings The forgeries hung in the apartment for eight years and no one knew A lot of ex- perts went through that apartment without Bedford-Stuyvesan- noticing "Shortly afterward somebody walked into Sotheby's the auction house trying - to sell the painting I went up there and re- - – a covered the Picasso The Magntte was turned is in a day later The investigation still going on" a Joe Keenan does not work at the Metropolitan Mu scum of Art or on some university faculty His "of fice" is a desk in the comer of the squad room of the New York City Police Department's Major Case Squad at One Police Plaza in downtown Manhattan His files on some of the world's greatest artworks sit in a card board box next to his chair I went to see him curious former high school dropout about how a from Brooklyn became one of the acknowledged ex pens on finding stolen artworks He laughed when he heard the question "To this day ' I tell a lot of parents that not everybody blooms at the same time and I'm a good example" he said "It took me a little bit longer than my friends But as long as a kid stays on the straight and narrow there's al ways hope I dropped out of high school and went to ' aa : BY - k work then I joined the Marine Corps I owe ev- erything to the corps A Detective foe menu of the New lieutenant forced me to yodt ponce take the high school Department equivalency test aboard figured o ut ship I passed and that when the enabled me to come to painting was work here Since then switched I've got my college de- and soon gree and I'm six credits afterward away from my master's" recovered it 1 1 : 1 A ri ' I-- ) -- - 'f '''':1 k a ) 'IT e' v ::z 4 i - e ' - i i ' : ki if ' 11! 4A i ' —4 ' ‘‘' A 1 ‘ - i1 ' 't 1 1' : When he joined the police force 30 years ago Keenan expected a traditional career in police work—and for a long time that's exactly what he had While still in the Police Academy he was assigned to a Labor Day weekend 1 justers I spoke with Interpol In temational Criminal Police Organi zation and police detectives from all over the country" Keenan's methods paid off Historically stolen art is rarely recovered unless it is returned for ran som "If you steal a truckload of 500 VCRs there's a fairly good chance I can find one of the 500 people you sell one to and trace it back to you" Keenan explained "If you steal a piece of art you only have to sell it once" In addi 111CHAEI HYAH PAGE 18 JANUARY 26 1992 PARADE MAGAZINE I i I |