CNN Report on the Gardner Theft

 


“Thieves Took $500M in Art in 81 Minutes.” Accessed March 26, 2013. http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/22/thieves-took-500m-in-art-in-81-minutes/.

The FBI Says it Has Identified Gardner Thieves

Have you seen these works? If so you might be entitled to a $5 million reward...

But the headline makes it seem a recovery is closer at hand than it may be. Every day after St. Patrick's Day, I've come to expect pieces discussing the theft of $500 million worth of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

But today's stories are a little different. The FBI has used today's anniversary to "widen the aperature of awareness" of the crime through a press release, webpage, and billboards. They say they know that the art was transported to Connecticut and Philadelphia after the theft. And the FBI even says it knew who the thieves are, though they aren't releasing that information. What they hope to accomplish is a recovery, and to do that they need a member of the public to come forward with some information. It's a worthy goal, hopefully the attention will finally secure the return.

Here's the FBI's  press release, and here is the special webpage the FBI has created to announce its $5 million reward.

Vermeer Recovered . . . On the Simpsons

Miracle of harmony and light indeed.  The FBI and U.S. Attorney's office are are offering unconditional immunity to anyone who helps locate any of the 13 stolen works of art from the Gardner heist. Anyone with information regarding the Gardner Museum theft should contact the Boston FBI office at 1-617-742-5533.

Gardner Heist 20th Anniversary

The night before   after St. Patrick's day, early on March 18, 1990, thieves stole 13 works from the Gardner Museum.  The lost works by Degas (including La Sortie de Pesage pictured here), Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Manet were stolen and some were cut from their frames, but were also stolen from the thousands of visitors who have visited the Gardner Museum in these twenty years.

The FBI and U.S. Attorney's office are re-publicizing their offer of unconditional immunity to anyone who helps locate any of the 13 stolen works of art from the Gardner heist. Anyone with information regarding the Gardner Museum theft should contact the Boston FBI office at 1-617-742-5533.

There have been a slew of details on the theft in recent days, here are a few: 

• Charles Hill, a former Scotland Yard detective, says art thieves are not that smart and do not deserve the glamour they receive from heists.
• One of the least interesting items stolen in the infamous Gardner heist could turn over valuable clues.

18th Anniversary of the Gardner Theft

Today is St. Patrick's day, which marks the 18th anniversary of the thefts from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The director of the museum, Anne Hawley repeated the offer that the Museum would pay $5 million for information leading to the recovery of the works. As her statement on Friday said, "the theft of these rare and important treasures of art is a tragic loss to the art world and to society as a whole," Hawley said in her statement. "Imagine never being able to hear a performance of Beethoven's Fifth, read Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," or listen to a Louis Armstrong jazz piece ever again . . . The loss of these remarkable masterpieces removes a part of our culture essential to our society."

Pictured here is The Concert, by Vermeer perhaps the most valuable and important of the stolen works.

Stewart Gardner Resolution?

Is a resolution eminent in the largest art theft in history? Perhaps, with word this morning that a Boston grand jury is scheduled to hear evidence this week into the 1990 theft from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, estimated at between $300-500 million. One of the stolen works is the Concert by Vermeer.

Stephen Kurkjian of the Boston Globe has the story, in which he was given details of a subpoena from a former museum employee who worked there at the time.

The former worker said two FBI agents questioned him about his recollection of the theft several days ago and handed him a subpoena to testify before the grand jury in Boston tomorrow.

The agents told him they were gathering facts on the case and were hoping that the grand jury would "shake things up" in the long-stalled investigation, said the former worker, who asked not to be identified.

The agents did say that they were pursuing the possibility that the theft may have been carried out by three individuals - and not two as has long been publicly believed, the former employee said.

On Friday, a spokeswoman for US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan's office declined to comment on the grand jury, stating that the office never confirms or denies the existence of such a session.

A spokeswoman for the Gardner Museum also declined comment.

The former museum employee read portions of the subpoena to the Globe and said it was signed by Brian T. Kelly, a veteran prosecutor in the US attorney's office. Kelly has helped spearhead the federal investigation into and the crackdown of James "Whitey" Bulger's criminal enterprise.

It is often said that a grand jury is both a sword and a shield. It protects the rights of criminal defendants, but also allows prosecutors to use their subpoena power to compel testimony. Whether a resolution will emerge remains to be seen, but right now there are more questions than answers, most notably: where are the paintings?

Will Billboards help Return $300 Million in Stolen Art?

Over the weekend, the Boston Globe picks up a piece by London's Financial Times, that Eric Ives, head of the FBI's major theft unit, is considering using billboards to aid its investigation of the works stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. One of the works stolen includes this work, which is Rembrandt's only seascape. The total value of all of the works has been estimated at $300 million. I've written about this theft before, in terms of a new documentary here. The best account of the theft I've found is Court TV's here.

Will Billboard's work? I'm not sure. They certainly can't hurt. The idea, I suppose, is for someone to catch a glimpse of these works and after seeing the billboard, alert the authorities. I'm not sure there would be much of a market for these works, as they are so widely known in the art world, that there would certainly be an impossibility of a good faith purchase. The law would not honor the sale because the buyers should know that these works have been stolen.

Fascinating theories abound, involving Boston Mafia and IRA members. Certainly, no one will be able to sell these works on any licit market, and if the thieves are caught, there may be a prosecution under the National Stolen Property Act if the transaction has a federal character (like crossing state lines for example). At this point, nearly 16 years after the theft, there does not seem to be any leads for the FBI Investigation, and a billboard campaign may serve to renew interest in the theft.