Its easy to see why art theft has historically been pretty popular: works of art worth millions are hung up for public inspection, are highly sought after, and are lightweight and easy to conceal. While most high-profile museums now have complex security systems, there always has and indeed there may always will be both the temptation and the demand for stolen works of art. This is the story of some of the most audacious, cunning and expensive art thefts ever.

Part 5: Chasing Cézanne
In 1978, thieves walked into a remote Massachusetts home and stole seven paintings. Among them was a Cézanne still life, Bouteille et Fruits, one of the most influential paintings in art history. They belonged to Michael Bakwin. His mother, heiress to a vast mid-West meat packing fortune, had created a fabulous collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings in the 1920s and 30s. The prime suspect for the robbery a local man called David Colvin - was murdered shortly afterwards and for twenty-one years the trail went cold.

Meanwhile, Bakwin employed a private detective and lodged the stolen paintings on the Art Loss Register, a database of stolen art run by an Englishman, Julian Radcliffe. In 1999 Lloyds underwriters in London were asked to insure a Cézanne for transport to England. They looked the painting up on the Art Loss Register, found it had been stolen from Bakwin and contacted Radcliffe. Complex negotiations followed involving Radcliffe and a mysterious Panamanian registered company called Eerie International which claimed to be holding the paintings. A deal was struck: the company handed over the Cézanne, but was allowed to keep the other six lesser works. As part of the deal, the company also had to include a sealed envelope, which contained the name of individual behind Eerie International. The Cézanne was returned to Bakwin...and he subsequenlty sold it for $30 million.

Five years later, Radcliffe received a call from London auction house, Sothebys: Four of the remaining Bakwin paintings had been offered for sale. Radcliffe went to court claiming the first agreement had been under duress, and won. The judge went on to order the sealed envelope be opened to reveal the name of the man who had kept the paintings all those years. It was one Robert Mardirosian the Massachusetts lawyer for the original suspect, David Colvin. This film follows the twists and double-dealing that, after 30 years, led to the recovery of one of the 20th century's most important paintings.

Click here for more details on the rest of the series.