Robert Volpe, who died Tuesday at 63, was founder of the New York Police Department’s art crime unit, which sent him around the world in search of purloined cultural treasures.

Growing up in South Brooklyn in the 1950s and 1960s, Volpe discovered unusual twin passions: art and fighting crime. Before entering the police academy in 1964, he graduated from the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan. He then spent time on patrol in the East Village’s 9th Precinct before working undercover in the Police Commissioner Confidential Investigating Unit and the Narcotics Bureau.

In 1971, Volpe was assigned to the newly created Art Identification Unit. In a series of high-visibility cases, Volpe established a reputation for recovering stolen art. He was summoned by foreign governments in a number of cases, including a the theft of several Rembrandts, Raphaels, and Vermeers in Budapest. He retired in 1983, but continued speaking about art crime around the country.

In an interview with The New York Sun last week, Volpe said of the recent focus on illicitly traded antiquities: “This happens every day. If you aren’t dealing in questionable art and antiquities, then you aren’t dealing. It’s just the way it is.”

Volpe, ever sporting his trademark handlebar moustache, spent recent years painting and visiting his son, former police officer Justin Volpe, in prison. Justin Volpe was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his 1997 abuse of Abner Louima.

A book about Volpe’s life, “Art Cop,” was published in 1974.