Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft

Announcement on stolen masterpieces from the museum

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft refers to a crime that occurred in the early hours of March 18, 1990 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. The event, which happened as the city was preoccupied with Saint Patrick's Day celebrations, started when a pair of thieves disguised as Boston police officers gained entry to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and stole thirteen works of art. Altogether, an estimated $500 million in art was stolen, and the unsolved robbery remains subject to much speculation to this day.

Robbery

At 1:24 a.m., two men wearing police uniforms walked up to a side entrance of the Museum. One of the men pressed the buzzer near the door and ordered "Police! Let us in. We heard about a disturbance in the courtyard." They were buzzed into the building without question. There were two security guards working inside of the 4-story building at the time; one was sitting behind the main security desk, the other guard was elsewhere. When the intruders arrived at the main security desk, one of them told the guard "You look familiar...I think we have a default warrant out for you." The guard was tricked into stepping out from behind his desk, where he had access to the only alarm button in the museum to alert the police. He was ordered to stand facing a wall and was handcuffed. The second security guard arrived minutes later and was also put in handcuffs. He asked the intruders "Why are you arresting me?" "You're not being arrested," was the reply. "This is a robbery. Don't give us any problems and you won't get hurt." The thieves wrapped duct tape around the guards' hands, feet, and heads, leaving nose holes for breathing, took them to the museum's basement, and handcuffed them to pipes.

The thieves then went upstairs to the Dutch Room. As one of them approached a Rembrandt painting, an alarm sounded, which they immediately smashed. They pulled Rembrandt's Self-Portrait (1629) off the wall and tried to take the wooden panel out of the heavy frame. Unsuccessful at that attempt, they left it on the floor. Next they cut Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633) out of the frame as well as A Lady and Gentleman in Black (1633) (the museum says this is a Rembrandt, but some scholars, including the Rembrandt Research Project in Amsterdam, say it is not). They removed Vermeer's The Concert (1658–60) from its frame and Govaert Flinck's Landscape with an Obelisk (1638) (which at one time was attributed to Rembrandt). They took a Rembrandt etching and a Chinese bronze beaker from the Shang Dynasty (1200–1100 BC).

Elsewhere in the museum, not far from a portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner, they removed five Degas drawings, a Manet oil, Chez Tortoni (1878–80), and a finial in the form of an eagle. To get to the finial, they passed by two Raphaels and a Botticelli.

The thieves had to make two trips to their car with the artwork. The theft lasted 81 minutes. The guards remained tied and handcuffed until the police arrived at 8:15 a.m. later that morning.[1]

The stolen artworks include:[2]

Altogether, the stolen pieces are estimated to be a loss of $500 million, making the robbery the largest private property theft ever.[3] Several empty frames hang in the Dutch Room gallery, both in homage to the missing works and as placeholders for when they are returned. The stolen artworks have not yet been returned to the museum and the selection of works puzzles the experts, specifically since more valuable artworks were available.[4]

The museum offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the recovery of the stolen artwork, which remains open two decades later. The FBI followed several leads, but none of them produced any results.

In March 2013, the FBI said it believed it knows the identity of the thieves. They believe that the theft was carried out by a criminal organization based in the mid-Atlantic and New England, and that the stolen paintings were moved by a criminal organization through Connecticut and the Philadelphia area in the years following the theft. The FBI believes some of the art may have been sold in Philadelphia in the early 2000s.[5][6]

Speculation

The theft is the subject of a 2005 documentary called Stolen, which in a slightly different version had earlier appeared on Court TV.[7] It was also the subject of a 2008 episode of American Greed.

In popular culture

In the NBC TV show The Blacklist, episode "The Courier (No. 85)", James Spader's character is seen near the end of the show sitting in front of what looks like The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. Given the nature of the character this may be intended to be the original.

The theft was referenced in The Simpsons episode "American History X-cellent", in which one of the stolen works, The Concert by Vermeer, is found in the collection of Mr. Burns. Similarly, in the The Venture Bros. episode "Victor. Echo. November.", the supervillain, Phantom Limb, attempts to sell The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, which he apparently possesses, to a collector for ten million dollars.

The theft is central to the plot of Irreplaceable (2009) by Charles Pinning. Linked to a fictitious theft from the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, this novel is known for its unconventional approach to solving the Gardner heist. The 2012 novel The Art Forger by Barbara A. Shapiro also features the theft.[8] The novel "Dutch Reckoning" (2013) by Michael G. West, a mystery featuring the reluctant amateur sleuth Tommy Shakespear, was dedicated to Isabella Stewart Gardner's grand niece, the poet Isabella "Belle" Gardner, a friend and mentor to the author.

The theft of The Storm on the Sea of Galilee is referenced at the beginning of the 2013 film Trance. Later in the film, the Rembrandt painting is again seen during one of the hypnotic visions, along with Vermeer's Concert and Manet's Chez Tortoni.

The story of the theft is told in the "Boston" episode of the Comedy Central series Drunk History.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Esterow, Milton (May 2009). "Inside the Gardner Case". ArtNews.
  2. ↑ "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  3. ↑ Menconi, David (March–April 2012). "Hot Canvases: A new book shatters myths about art theft". Harvard Magazine.
  4. ↑ McShane, Thomas & Matera, Dary (2006). "18. No Boston Tea Party at Isabella's". Stolen Masterpiece Tracker. Barricade Books. ISBN 978-1-56980-314-1.
  5. ↑ "FBI Says It Has Clues in '90 Boston Art Heist". The New York Times. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  6. ↑ Comcowich, Greg (March 18, 2013). "FBI Provides New Information Regarding the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Heist: Information Sought from Those in Philadelphia and Connecticut Who May Have Knowledge of the Art's Location" (Press release). Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division.
  7. ↑ Dreyfus, Rebecca (April 13, 2006). "Stolen: Is it still a masterpiece if no one can find it?". Stolen pressbook. International Film Circuit. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  8. ↑ Carter, Maxwell (December 28, 2012). "Rogues' Gallery". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2013.

External links

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