The FBI’s Press Conference on the Gardner heist, held on the 23rd anniversary of the crime, revealed some new information considered sensational by the media. The largest property crime in peace-time history saw the theft of thirteen artworks, valued around $500 million during one 81-minute theft from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The crime was perpetrated during the night after the St. Patrick’s Day revels, in 1990. A $5 million reward still stands for information leading to the successful recovery of all the works in question. Myriad theories have swirled around who was behind this crime, for surely it was some larger organized crime group, more elaborate than the two thieves disguised as policemen who bluffed their way into the museum, tricking student security staff into opening the door without first checking with the police department. The same criminals had tried another tactic some days prior to the theft, when one of their gang, posing as a mugging victim, frantically banged on the service entrance door to the museum, screaming for help. That night, with professional security staff on duty, the door was not opened, and it was noted that the “mugging victim” was seen leaving amicably with his “muggers” later that night. But the crime was eventually successful, with works by Rembrandt and Vermeer headlining the haul.
The Secret History of Art – Noah Charney on Art Crimes and Art Historical Mysteries
Posts Tagged ‘art theft’
Talk on Art Theft at Quick Center in Fairfield, CT
Art Theft in The Guardian
The Guardian’s wonderful art critic, Jonathan Jones (author of the highly-recommended The Lost Battles, about Leonardo’s lost Battle of Anghiari, a topic discussed in one of my LA Times articles) wrote a thoughtful article a few days ago, entitled “Is Art Theft an Act of Homage?” He was kind enough to mention two books of mine, a novel (The Art Thief) and a history book (Stealing the Mystic Lamb), along with a fine book by a colleague of mine, Sandy Nairne’s Art Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners. Jones notes that a number of high-profile art thefts, and the majority of the presentations of art theft in fiction and film, show thieves as obsessive collectors or art lovers, and suggest that the act of stealing a work of art is in some ways an homage to that work.
Chinese Art Heist Shocks Norway
On Saturday, 5 January, 23 rare Chinese artifacts and artworks were stolen in a daring heist at the Bergens Industrial Arts Museum in Norway. Once home to one of Europe’s largest collections of Chinese art, the private collection of a Norwegian general who fought with the Chinese Imperial Army, the theft has shocked Norway, and is strangely reminiscent of a pair of heists of Chinese art in Cambridge and Durham, England last year, as well as another theft, of 53 Chinese artifacts, from the same museum two years ago—suggesting that the same criminal group may be involved. The entire theft took just 90 seconds, and can be viewed here.
Professor of Art Crime
The Secret History of Art was asked to write an autobiographical essay about getting into the study of art crime for the alumni magazine of St John’s College, University of Cambridge, where I studied for an MPhil degree in Art History. With the permission of that magazine, The Eagle, the article is republished here.
More on Rotterdam Art Heist
The Secret History of Art was interviewed by a load of magazines and newspapers regarding the recent Rotterdam art heist, including the Washington Post, De Gelderlander (Netherlands), and several Brazilian publications. As not everyone reads Dutch and Portugese (although perhaps more should), here are some of the interview questions and answers.
Podcast: How the Mona Lisa was Stolen
The latest episode of The Secret History of Art podcast is up. It tells a play-by-play of what happened on 21 August, 1911, when Vincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-secret-history-of-art/id406816655
The Most Famous Heist in History, Part 2 of 2
With renewed interest in the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa, thanks to an upcoming film on the subject (La Banda Picasso) as well as it’s omnipresence in the cultural imagination, The Secret History of Art is pleased to present a narrative dramatization, based on the best available scholarship, of the theft of the Mona Lisa itself, by the handyman and amateur painter, Vincenzo Peruggia. This narrative forms the opening of THE THEFTS OF THE MONA LISA: On Stealing the World’s Most Famous Painting (ARCA Press, 2011), which is available onAmazon. The rest of the book is an academic study of the history, mysteries, and crimes surrounding the Mona Lisa, including the questions of why Picasso was accused of having stolen the painting, and whether the Nazis ever got hold of it (they thought they had stolen it, but in fact had stolen an exact copy).
101st Anniversary of the Mona Lisa Heist, Part 1 of 2
Today, 21 August 2012, is the 101st anniversary of the Mona Lisa theft. With renewed interest in the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa, thanks to an upcoming film on the subject (La Banda Picasso) as well as it’s omnipresence in the cultural imagination, The Secret History of Art is pleased to present a narrative dramatization, based on the best available scholarship, of the theft of the Mona Lisa itself, by the handyman and amateur painter, Vincenzo Peruggia. This narrative forms the opening of THE THEFTS OF THE MONA LISA: On Stealing the World’s Most Famous Painting (ARCA Press, 2011), which is available on Amazon. The rest of the book is an academic study of the history, mysteries, and crimes surrounding the Mona Lisa, including the questions of why Picasso was accused of having stolen the painting, and whether the Nazis ever got hold of it (they thought they had stolen it, but in fact had stolen an exact copy).
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