Within the framework of a thrilling caper, Portrait of a Thief explores the colonization of art and the ethical obligations for repatriation. The novel asks—and answers—many questions about who art belongs to and about the role of museums and art historians. Overall, it advocates for the return of appropriated artifacts. The relevance of this act goes beyond the artifacts themselves, beyond the scope of artists and curators. Museums, as depicted in the novel, are social institutions which shape consciousness, guiding a society’s understanding of its own history in relation to the rest of the world. When museums refuse to acknowledge conquest, theft, and other unethical means of acquisition, they reinforce the continued influence of colonization on global dynamics.

Portrait of a Thief denies the idea that possession is equivalent to ownership. As a student of art history, Will is used to present Grace D. Li’s views on the matter. His study has taught him that museums—a synecdoche for museum owners, stakeholders, and the like—see art “as theirs by right, by conquest or colonialism” (217). Their abuse of ownership indicates a willingness to circumvent truth when it benefits them. Will knows many art historians who feel obligated to preserve.