Famous Cases Of Stolen Art Masterpieces
Special investigator Anthony Amore will discuss famous cases of stolen masterpiece paintings and other works of art.
Is it a lucrative business? How is art theft investigated? Amore and Tom Mashberg co-authored, Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists.
Amore is also investigating the theft of 13 works of art stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on March 18, 1990, which has been estimated to be worth as much as $500 million.
Two thieves, disguised as Boston police officers, entered the museum and stated that they were responding to an emergency call. They asked the guard to come around from behind his desk, claiming there was a warrant out for his arrest. The guard left the desk and walked away from the only alarm button. The thieves told the guard to summon the other guard on duty to the security desk. The guards were then bound with duct tape and taken to the basement where they were tied to pipes.
The thieves stole three works by Rembrandt including The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (the artist’s only known seascape) and a Self-Portrait, The Concert by Vermeer, five drawings by Degas, Chez Tortoni by Manet, a landscape painting formerly attributed to Rembrandt, and two objects, an ancient Chinese Ku and a finial.