The Real Paris Heist: The Man Who Stole Picasso
In the early hours of May 20, 2010, a lone figure scaled the walls of the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris and vanished into the galleries. Moments later, five irreplaceable masterpieces — including works by Picasso, Matisse, and Modigliani — were gone. No alarms. No trace. No recovery.
But this wasn’t fiction. This was the real-life work of Vjéran Tomic — a thief so skilled, so methodical, he became known as the Spider-Man of Paris.
In this episode of The Adventure Story Podcast, I’ll take you deep into the shadows of the City of Light to unravel the truth behind one of the most audacious art thefts in modern history. You’ll meet the man behind the myth, uncover the obsession that drove him, and discover the global black market where billionaires and criminals cross paths over stolen masterpieces.
This story inspired my free novella The Paris Heist, co-written with bestselling author Ernest Dempsey. Read for FREE today:
LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/paris
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A missing Picasso... A master thief... A thrilling race against time!
When a priceless Picasso disappears in Paris, legendary thief Bernard Moreau is the prime suspect. But as two unlikely allies—Eden Black and Adriana Villa—hunt him down, the chase turns deadly. It’s a race through the shadowed streets of Paris, where every twist is as unpredictable as the city itself.
Grab your FREE COPY of The Paris Heist here:
LukeRichardsonAuthor.com/Paris
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Transcript
He grabbed hold of a steel drainpipe and shimmied upwards.
Speaker A:Reaching the top, he swung himself onto the rooftop.
Speaker A:He climbed to his feet and eyed the expansive flat roof spreading out before him.
Speaker A:Remembering the internal layout of the building, he stalked to the right.
Speaker A:He reached a row of windows set into the roof and peered inside.
Speaker A:The museum was lit in an eerie red glow designed to reduce the damaging effects of bright lights on the fragile art.
Speaker A:Several canvases adorned the far wall.
Speaker A:It took him several seconds to see the piece he wanted.
Speaker A:When he did, a smile curved his lips.
Speaker A:He rubbed his hands together.
Speaker A:The work hung there in the half light, as though waiting, asking for him to take it.
Speaker A:He removed a small pry bar from his backpack, pushed the tool beneath the window, and jimmied it open.
Speaker A:The warm, dry air of the gallery streamed out.
Speaker A:He listened closely.
Speaker A:No alarms shrieked.
Speaker A:No sirens wailed.
Speaker A:No footsteps pounded his way.
Speaker A:So far, so good.
Speaker A:He removed a length of rope from the bag and anchored it to the foot of a nearby air vent.
Speaker A:He stuck his head through the window and listened.
Speaker A:Again.
Speaker A:The gallery was silent.
Speaker A:He dropped the rope through the window and lowered himself inside.
Speaker A:Dropping silently to the floor, he he paused in a crouch.
Speaker A:No one came his way.
Speaker A:He padded across the gallery and looked up at the painting.
Speaker A:Picasso's Dove with Green Peas.
Speaker A:For a moment, the chaotic beauty of the thing struck him.
Speaker A:He reached up.
Speaker A:His gloved hands hovered over the painting for a fraction of a second.
Speaker A:He wondered if his information was correct.
Speaker A:Was the alarm really out of action?
Speaker A:So far it had been too easy, too perfect.
Speaker A:He slowly, carefully lifted the painting from the wall.
Speaker A:He paused, listening.
Speaker A:Still no alarms.
Speaker A:He rested the priceless Picasso against the wall and dug a black canvas bag from his pocket.
Speaker A:He slid the painting inside and zipped it up.
Speaker A:The bag's microfiber interior would protect the painting from any knocks or scratches.
Speaker A:He walked back across the room and tied the bag to the rope.
Speaker A:He climbed up the rope and back out through the window.
Speaker A:From the roof, he pulled the bag containing the painting up and out.
Speaker A:He stood up carefully and looked around.
Speaker A:The din of the city continued as it had before.
Speaker A:Somewhere nearby, the engine of a motorbike rumbled and then faded.
Speaker A:He removed the rope and coiled it beneath his arm, put the backpack back on and closed the window.
Speaker A:He crossed the roof and then used the rope to lower the painting to the ground before scrambling down after it.
Speaker A:He waited in the shadows of the building next door.
Speaker A:The traffic on the Avenue de New York ran smoothly.
Speaker A:A dark coloured sedan bumped up the curb beside him.
Speaker A:The passenger window slid down.
Speaker A:He stepped from the shadow and placed the bag containing the painting on the passenger seat.
Speaker A:Make sure she gets it tonight, okay?
Speaker A:He said to the driver.
Speaker A:Will do.
Speaker A:The driver closed the window and pushed back into the snarling traffic.
Speaker A:Then he turned and wound his way off into the city.
Speaker A:It was time for a drink.
Speaker A:Hey, I'm Luke.
Speaker A:I'm an author of archaeological adventure novels.
Speaker A:I travel the world looking for stories to put into my books and share with you right here on the Adventure Story podcast.
Speaker A:Meet Viran Tomic, a man of shadows and rooftops, of ancient walls and unspoken codes.
Speaker A:If you haven't heard of him before, you're not alone, as that's the way he likes it.
Speaker A: Born in Paris in the: Speaker A:While others played football, he studied windows.
Speaker A:How they locked, how they latched, and how they might be persuaded to open on demand.
Speaker A:At the age of 10, he was sent from Paris to live with his grandma in Mostar, Bosnia.
Speaker A:It was here that Tomik pulled off his first heist.
Speaker A:He broke into a library, climbing through the window and stole two books that were worth a small fortune.
Speaker A:Aged 12 and back in Paris, he broke into his first apartment.
Speaker A:At 15, he was already known to the local police, although they could never quite catch him red handed.
Speaker A:Soon enough he was sneaking around the city in the dead of night, breaking into wealthy homes to steal their valuables and flogging the jewellery at the market afterwards.
Speaker A:According to one legend, he even stole gold buttons from the Egyptian royal family.
Speaker A: ed refining his skills and in: Speaker A:As his fame in the underworld grew, Tomik soon had a list of clients placing orders for certain pro prized items.
Speaker A:One of these clients was Jean Michel Corvez, a gallery owner who mentioned to Tomic that he'd love to own a ligare.
Speaker A:By chance, Tomic had been eyeing one up at the Musee d' Art Moderne and thought he could get in by unscrewing a window.
Speaker A:And so the idea for the great Paris art heist was born.
Speaker A:Tomik spent six nights dabbing a window frame with paint stripper, exposing the screws, taking them out and then replacing them with fake ones.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:He was ready.
Speaker A:He removed the window with suction pads and bolt cutters, cut the lock on the grate, and then dodged the motion sensors.
Speaker A:Once inside, he took the Legar painting Still Life with Candlesticks by removing it from its frame.
Speaker A:He then looked around and saw Picasso's Pastoral, Mogdigliani's Woman With a Fan, Pigeon with the Peas by Picasso, and Olive Tree Near l' Estaque by Braque.
Speaker A:And he took them all.
Speaker A:But here is where we get a peek into Tomik's heart and soul.
Speaker A:He almost took Modigliani's Woman with Blue Eyes, but the painting spoke to him, warning him off.
Speaker A:Years later, Tomik said, when I went to get it off the wall, it told me, if you take me, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
Speaker A:This poses the question, despite his life of crime, does the heart of an artist beat inside Tomik and the paintings he stole?
Speaker A:Well, they've never been seen again.
Speaker A:With a combined value of over $100 million, surely they can't have just vanished into thin air.
Speaker A:If you believe the scriptwriters of the James Bond movie Spectre, they have been bought by Bond's arch enemy, Ernest Stavlo Blofeld.
Speaker A:The Pigeon with Peas by Picasso can be seen hanging on the wall of Bond's room in Blofeld's Moroccan lair.
Speaker A:Although of course, Blofeld is a fictional character, the idea that a reclusive billionaire might have added these paintings to his private collection is not actually that far fetched.
Speaker A:Consider the case of American hedge fund billionaire Michael Steinhardt, who was ordered to surrender his collection of looted antiques and artifacts worth over $70 million.
Speaker A:The grand jury investigation into him uncovered a sprawling network of underworld contacts, including antiques traffickers, crime bosses, money launderers and tomb raiders.
Speaker A:Surely there's a movie waiting to be made there.
Speaker A:But you don't have to be a billionaire collector of stolen artworks either.
Speaker A: ius Gurlitt hoarded more than: Speaker A:Paintings by Picasso, Renoir, Monet and Cezanne, amongst many others, were found stacked high in mould ridden rooms in his flattened house.
Speaker A:In fact, the problem of stolen artworks is so significant, there's even a database called the Lost Art Register to help track down these plundered masterworks.
Speaker A:As for Picasso's Dove with green peas, perhaps we'll never know.
Speaker A:By the way, today's episode is inspired by a novella I wrote with Ernest Dempsey.
Speaker A:It's called the Paris Heist and is available right now@lukerichardsonauthor.com Paris A missing Picasso, a master thief and a thrilling race against time.
Speaker A:In Paris, a priceless Picasso vanishes and notorious thief Bernard Moreau but becomes a legend.
Speaker A:Now he's free, back in the game.
Speaker A:But he's not alone.
Speaker A:Eden Black, sharp and anti corruption hunts for the truth amid deceit.
Speaker A:Adriana Villa, a solitary strategist, is forced into an uneasy alliance.
Speaker A:Together they navigate a maze of deceit and deception.
Speaker A:As they close in on Moreau and a corrupt inspector seeks revenge, the chase turns deadly.
Speaker A:It's a race through Paris's shadowed streets and a battle of wits against time.
Speaker A:Lukerichardsonauthor.com Paris to read that today this is the Adventure Story Podcast.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for hanging out today.
Speaker A:It's great to spend some time with you.
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