'Thomas Crown Affair' thief snatches art from gallery paintings worth £3,000

A thief who stole paintings worth thousands of pounds using a similar technique to Pierce Brosnan in The Thomas Crown Affair is being hunted by police.

Staff at the Page gallery in Knightsbridge, which is hosting a pop-up exhibition of contemporary art, thought the smartly dressed man was a buyer when he attended two private viewings last week.

But on Wednesday he breezed past a gallery assistant, went downstairs, cut two paintings from their frames with a knife and walked out.

Anssi Sojakka, whose £1,000 painting Golden Fleece was stolen along with DHSS by Graham Carrick, on sale for about £2,000, said: "We couldn't believe it. My initial thought is that it was like something out of The Thomas Crown Affair."

The thief is described as white, in his forties, balding and about 5ft 9in tall. On the day of the raid he wore a long coat, apparently so he could hide the pieces underneath.