The Heist of the Century
by Lisa Michaux, Tastemaker in Residence
Tastemaker Lisa Michaux presents Last Seen, a podcast about the legendary art theft at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Image: The Dutch Room at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
The theft of 13 irreplaceable art works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and Manet from the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston in the early morning hours of March 18, 1990 remains the largest unsolved art heist in history. Estimated to be worth half a billion dollars, nothing has been recovered, despite a hefty ten million dollar reward. Over the last 30 years, this story has been covered in documentaries, in-depth news articles and TV specials, but the Last Seen podcast attempts to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in ten episodes.
Last Seen by WBUR and The Boston Globe
Image: Empty Frames in the Dutch Room at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, March 18, 1980
The story that unfolds takes many twists and turns, but begins at 1:24 am on March 18 when two thieves presented themselves at the doors of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum dressed as Boston police officers and convinced the guards to let them in by saying they were responding to a disturbance. The thieves overtook the guards and then spent 81 minutes perusing the museum and cutting precious paintings out of their frames. Most art heists take around 5-10 minutes, so while this was unprecedented it also revealed that the thieves were confident they would not be discovered in the act.
Image: Johannes Vermeer, The Concert, (1663-1666) Stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
The thieves took a strange assortment of pieces—some extraordinarily famous like Rembrandt’s only seascape and one of the 36 known paintings by Johannes Vermeer, as well as some less valuable works that add to the mystery of the theft.
Image: Courtyard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
I heartily encourage a visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum the next time you are in Boston. Gardner was a force in Boston in the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries. The legendary art connoisseur Bernard Berenson said of her, “She lives at a rate and intensity, with a reality that makes other lives seem pale, thin and shadowy.” Gardner built a replica of a Venetian palazzo in Boston with three floors filled with art surrounding a central garden courtyard. She lived on the fourth floor and spent her days acquiring art and arranging it throughout her home. The palazzo was opened to the public in 1903 and when she died in 1924 the building, its contents and an endowment were given to the public with the stipulation that nothing would be moved from where she placed it.
The first time I visited the Gardner I was amazed to see people staring at the empty frames in the galleries, but this is a common occurrence. In fact, many people come to see what is missing, but hopefully discover the many beautiful works that remain.
The museum has embraced the role of the theft in its history and has a special section on their website devoted to it. They also encourage anyone with facts that could lead to the recovery of the stolen art to contact them at theft@GardnerMuseum.org No theories though, they have plenty of those already.
https://www.gardnermuseum.org/about/theft
I am absolutely fascinated by art theft and art fraud and loved the Last Seen podcast. I will admit that at times I got a bit lost as yet another theory was uncovered and discussed, so I would suggest you take a look at the podcast website and use it as a guide. This will also allow you to get a visual on the incredible cast of characters that populate this wild story!
For more art podcasts, please see Lisa’s blogs:
Lisa Michaux explores Art Podcasts-Arnolfini Portrait + The Mona Lisa of the North. Stay tuned…