Rare paintings are among the world’s most valuable objects. As such, they are often the topic of conversation, and even more often the targets of thieves. For hundreds of years art thieves have held a mystery and fascination. Sure, we know they are criminals... but they steal art! The allure of a criminal with fine taste is perfect fodder for gossip.
However, the reality is that there are two main purposes for art heists. Some paintings are stolen and sold on the black market. Other paintings those too famous to be sold are held for ransom. Either way, the thief is more interested in the price than painting.
Five of the most notable art heists in history are still talked about today.
1. Mona Lisa (da Vinci) – 1911
Being the most prestigious painting in history, Mona Lisa has had some prestigious owners. Later, she was displayed in the Louvre but on August 20, 1911, Mona Lisa was discovered missing from the French National Museum. All administrators of the Louvre were fired and the borders of the country sealed. Several months later, an art gallery in Florence announced they had caught the thief – Vincenzo Perugia, an Italian nationalist who believed the painting should be kept in France. Mona Lisa was returned to the Louvre January 4, 1914.
2. Storm on the Sea of Galilee (Rembrandt) & The Concert (Vermeer) – 1990
These famous paintings were owned by a private collector in Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner, until her death in 1924. Her will stipulated the paintings remain in her small museum with no new additions and nothing was to be removed. And so it was – until March 18, 1990 when two men masquerading as Boston police officers made off with the paintings. The crime is yet to be solved and the paintings remain unrecovered.
3. The Scream & Madonna (Munch) – 2004
The works of Munch have been targeted for numerous thefts but the most famous was the theft of The Scream from Oslo, Norway on August 22, 2004. Armed gunmen boldly ripped the paintings from the walls and fled. The men were eventually caught and imprisoned but the paintings were damaged in the process. The Scream is very delicate because it is painted on cardboard.
4. View of the Sea at Scheveningen & Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church at Nuenen (Van Gogh) – 2002
On December 7, 2002, a group led the famous international art thief known as “The Monkey” noticed a ladder left out at the Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum. In broad daylight, they broke a second story window with their towel wrapped elbows. Using a makeshift rope ladder, they escaped through a different route. Two men were arrested through DNA evidence but the paintings were never recovered.
5. The Paraguayan National Fine Arts Museum (various paintings by Courbert, Tintoretto, Murillo, Piot) – 2002
When prospective art thieves heard Paraguay was hosting an expensive showing, they rented a shop nearby two months in advance and began digging an 80 foot tunnel to the museum. The thieves leisurely strolled over and helped themselves on July 30, 2002. The paintings have since been recovered.
These five art heists are only the tip of the iceberg. The total list of famous paintings that have been stolen over the years is pages long and these top five can be supplemented with 25 runners up. Although many of the paintings are eventually recovered, some go missing for years until they resurface.
Author Resource:
Darla Blackmon writes about the arts at http://www.everythinglongbeach.com/arts/ . The community website that covers news, art and events in Long Beach, CA. Visit http://www.everythinglongbeach.com/lb/museums/ for information about art that hasn't been stolen yet.
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