Michel van Rijn

Michel van Rijn (1950 – July 2024) was a Dutch art smuggler, art trader, art forger and author. He was involved in worldwide art smuggling from the 1960s to 1990s. Scotland Yard estimated that he was involved in 80 to 90% of all international art smuggling during the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s and 2000s Van Rijn cooperated with authorities in finding stolen pieces of art.

Life Van Rijn was born in 1950 and grew up in Amsterdam. His father was a dentist and his mother an artist. Van Rijn stated that his mother was of Jewish descent. His father owned a large collection of tribal art and artists frequented the house, all of which made the young Van Rijn interested in art. At age 15 Van Rijn went to Istanbul, Turkey, where he bought coats which he sold in the Netherlands. Through an Armenian contact he got involved with icons. At one point Van Rijn smuggled artwork into both Europe and the United States and he was pursued by both Interpol and the CIA. Scotland Yard estimated that Van Rijn was involved in 80–90% of all international art smuggling in the 1970s and 1980s. He was once arrested in Marbella, Spain and faced extradition to France. He was also known for his tall tales.

Van Rijn was involved in the return of art taken during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, which had been sold on the black market. The operation managed to recover $40 million worth of art.

Around the year 2000 he stopped his cooperation with authorities and he started a website in which he provided information on stolen art and indicated who might be responsible for the theft. In 2002 Van Rijn met Arthur Brand, who over time became his assistant. In January 2005 Van Rijn spent five days in Swiss detention after being arrested on suspicion of extortion. He was arrested at Basel airport. Van Rijn had stated that two Lebanese brothers had unlawful possession of a bronze Apollo statue and one of the brothers filed a complaint against Van Rijn. Van Rijn was released due to a lack of evidence. In 2006, while cooperating with Scotland Yard, Van Rijn managed to return a stolen Moche headdress from the possession of Leonardo Patterson to Peru.

In 2015 Van Rijn had a falling out with several people, including his former assistant, Arthur Brand. Several people claimed Van Rijn had not paid for services provided to him and had overvalued paintings he sold them. Van Rijn claimed Brand led a smear campaign against him after the two parted ways around 2009. In 2017 he had a further falling out with German art collector Tilman Bohn, Lebanese billionaire Halim Korban and Dutch investor Boudewijn Sanders. Van Rijn replied to the claims against him with a cryptic e-mail to publisher Quote.

Personal life Van Rijn had several children, including two sons. The Dutch public broadcaster AVRO made a documentary about Van Rijn in 2006.

Works Hot Art Cold Cash, 1993. Het Mekka Manuscript. De Vijfde Sarcofaag (2006) Cuba Libre