Steal My Heart (WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 26

After dinner, Nicole took Doc to one side. She explained she needed a copy of that painting. The one hanging in the Chamber. Doc was happy to oblige. He would have it ready in two weeks. His ability to replicate Picasso's The Dream was his gift to the couple. It was the happiest he'd seen Nicole. He saw how lonely she had been. With Waverly by her side, she had a chance of a new life. One that didn't involve her looking at a painting alone. He couldn't offer Nicole what Waverly could. She was still a young woman, many more years ahead. She deserved a happy life with Waverly.

Nicole handed over the original painting to Dolls. She was sad to see it go, but recognised if she was going to commit to a new life with Waverly, this was the one painting that had brought about the turn of events. She also knew it was the best thing for her and Waverly.

A fresh start.

Waverly and Nicole stood admiring the copy of Picasso's Dream Doc made for them to hang on the wall of their Venetian home. The end of one journey. The beginning of a new one.

The original was returned to Tate Modern. Extra security placed on it, under Nicole's guidance. Visitors stopped to gaze on the painting once more, unable to see its hidden message.

They would need a microscope to spot the name 'Waverly' written in the eye of the woman in the painting. Doc's personal tribute to the woman who stole Nicole's heart.

The world gazing at Waverly.

Forever...

[Alexa play: OceanLab: I Am What I Am]

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Postscript:

Hope you enjoyed this story. It's loosely based around two true stories, so incredible you won't believe them.

The first is German master forger Wolfgang Beltracchi. Collectors paid millions for his forgeries of paintings supposedly by Picasso and Léger. He even duped art experts. Beltracchi's wife sold the forgeries to collectors and museums claiming she discovered the paintings in her family's collection. The couple even created vintage-style photographs to fool specialists, in which the wife posed as her grandmother with the paintings hanging in the background. The scam was eventually busted when a British art expert discovered the pigment titanium white in a forensic analysis of a painting. Titanium white did not exist in 1915, the year the painting was supposedly created. In 2011, Beltracchi was sentenced to six years in prison, his wife to four. He now sells his own paintings and is making a fortune...!

The second is Frenchman, Stéphane Breitwieser. Notorious for art thefts between 1995 and 2001. He admitted to stealing 239 artworks from 172 museums while travelling around Europe, an average of one theft every 15 days. He differs from other art thieves in that he did not steal for profit. He was a self-described art connoisseur who stole in order to build a vast personal collection, particularly of 16th and 17th century masters. At his trial, the magistrate quoted him as saying, "I enjoy art. I love such works of art. I collected them and kept them at home." Despite the immensity of his collection, he was still able to recall every piece he stole.

Check out their names in Wikipedia...seriously, you cannot make this stuff up....

Art theft: only a small percentage of stolen art is ever recovered (guesstimate: 5% to 10%). Again, if you look up Art Theft on Wikipedia you'll see the list of famous paintings stolen. It's fascinating.

Tate Modern: I had the same reaction as Waverly on first seeing a Picasso, hence its inclusion in the story. There's just something about standing in front of one. I mentioned one other Tate painting in the story: Procter's The Orchard. If you haven't looked it up, do, its depiction of a naked woman is exquisite. What's even more interesting is it was painted by a woman. Dod Procter was the only female artist of her period to paint women in this way. I had to include this painting in the story, just for my own personal satisfaction of having come across Procter's work. It's my personal steal...!

The National Gallery: Claude Monet's Irises is listed as part of the gallery's collection of his work. I haven't been to the gallery (yet). I wanted a famous piece by a famous artist and well Irises seemed to fit that perfectly.

The Victoria & Albert Museum: the green snuff box stolen by Nicole is part of the Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert collection.

All the pieces mentioned in this story should be on display. I wanted such pieces because if you ever get the chance to visit the galleries or the museum you can look at them and remember this story.

Some pieces may occasionally not be available for viewing. A small card in its place: Object Removed for Cleaning....!

Lebed is Russian for swan...as in Robert Svane, aka Bobo del Rey.

In love and light...