Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist remains unsolved 34 years later
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Updated: 9:53 PM EDT Mar 18, 2024
JOHN IT IS MARIA 34 YEARS. IT IS A LONG TIME, BUT INVESTIGATORS TELL ME THEY REMAIN BUSY TO THIS DAY AND THEY TELL ME THAT THEY ACTUALLY HAVE MORE HOPE NOW THAT THIS MYSTERY WILL FINALLY BE SOLVED. ED LAST TIME WE TRAVELED TO TO LOOK INTO SOMETHING WAS A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO. AS RECENTLY AS A FEW WEEKS AGO, INVESTIGATORS SAY THEY WERE BUSY INVESTIGATING A TIP, HOPING TO GATHER MORE CLUES THAT WILL LEAD THEM TO 13 PRICELESS STOLEN WORKS OF ART. I WALK BY THE EMPTY FRAMES A FEW TIMES EVERY DAY, AND IT’S FRUSTRATING. YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IT’S A REMINDER OF WHAT YOU HAVEN’T ACCOMPLISHED. 34 YEARS AFTER THE SHOCKING HEIST, THE VOID INSIDE THE GARDNER MUSEUM IS A GLARING REMINDER OF WHAT WAS LOST. WELL-KNOWN WORKS BY REMBRANDT AND VERMEER, AND OTHERS THAT MAY NOT BE QUITE AS FAMILIAR. WE ARE TRYING TO EMPHASIZE THE LESSER KNOWN PIECES, NOT LESSER VALUABLE BUT LESSER KNOWN. LIKE THE DEGAS SKETCHES. ANTHONY AMORE IS THE DIRECTOR OF SECURITY AND CHIEF INVESTIGATOR AT THE MUSEUM. HE SAYS HE HAS MORE HOPE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE MYSTERY HAS NOW SPANNED DECADES. SOMETIMES THE SCARIEST PERSON INVOLVED HAS DIED. SO AS MORBID AS THIS SOUNDS, SOMETIMES THE PASSAGE OF TIME AND MORTALITY PLAY IN OUR FAVOR. THAT CRITICAL TIP HAS NOT YET COME IN, BUT INVESTIGATORS HOPE THEIR PERSISTENCE AND THEIR PATIENCE PAY OFF AS THEIR COMMITMENT REMAINS AS STRONG AS IT DID THE DAY THE WORKS OF ART WERE STOLEN. WE GET A LOT OF CALLS AND A LOT OF EMAILS AND LETTERS AND BUT BUT THEY’RE NOT ALL LEADS. A LOT OF THEM ARE THEORIES. UM, WE’RE LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT TIP. YOU KNOW THAT ONE BIT OF INFORMATION THAT WILL GET US OVER THE OVER THE GOAL LINE AND THERE IS STILL A $10 MILLION REWARD IN THIS CASE. INVESTIGATORS ARE HOPING THE PROSPECT OF THAT REWARD WILL GET THEM OVER THAT GOA
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist remains unsolved 34 years later
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Updated: 9:53 PM EDT Mar 18, 2024
BOSTON —
It's been 34 years since thieves stole more than a dozen works of art during a 1990 heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the most tantalizing art heist mystery in the world.
On March 18, 1990, two men disguised as police officers robbed the museum of approximately $500 million worth of masterpieces. They included works by Rembrandt, Manet and Vermeer. The FBI said in 2015 that the two suspects are now dead.
On the night of March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves disguised as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
The thieves roamed the Museum’s galleries, stealing thirteen works of art.
The theft occurred the day after St. Patrick's Day, while the city was still preoccupied with celebrations.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum curator Karen Haas, left, and museum director Anne Hawley address a news conference March 19, 1990, concerning the theft at the museum.
It remains the most tantalizing art heist mystery in the world.
A security guard stands outside the Dutch Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the site where robbers stole treasured art objects in an early morning robbery, in this March 21, 1990 photo.
Two thieves walked into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum disguised as police officers and bound and gagged two guards using handcuffs and duct tape.
For the next 81 minutes, they sauntered around the ornate galleries, removing masterworks including those by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and Manet, cutting some of the largest pieces from their frames.
Govaert Flinck, Landscape with an Obelisk, 1638 Oil on oak panel, 54.5 x 71 cm inscribed faintly at the foot on the right: R. 16.8 (until recently attributed to Rembrandt)
Rembrandt, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633 Oil on canvas, 161.7 x 129.8 cminscribed on the rudder: Rembrant (sic). f::/1633Rembrandt’s only known seascape.
In this Thursday, March 11, 2010 photo, a plaque marks the empty frame from which thieves cut Rembrandt's "The storm on the Sea of Galilee," which remains on display at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Manet, Chez Tortoni, 1878–1880 Oil on canvas, 26 x 34 cm inscribed at the foot on the left: Manet
In 1997, the museum increased its reward from $1 million to $5 million. The new $10 million reward became available on May 23, 2017, but expired at the end of that year.
Degas, La Sortie de PesagePencil and watercolor on paper, 10 x 16 cm
Vermeer, The Concert, 1658–1660 Oil on canvas, 72.5 x 64.7 cm
In this Thursday, March 11, 2010 photo, empty frames from which thieves took "Storm on the Sea of Galilee," left background, by Rembrandt and "The Concert," right foreground, by Vermeer, remain on display at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Rembrandt, A Lady and Gentleman in Black, 1633 Oil on canvas, 131.6 x 109 cm inscribed at the foot: Rembrandt.ft: 1633
Chinese bronze beaker or Ku Chinese, Shang Dynasty, 1200–1100 B.C.H. 10 1/2 in. Diam. 6 1/8 in. Wt. 2 lbs. 7 oz.
Degas, Cortège aux Environs de Florence Pencil and wash on paper, 16 x 21 cm
The guard on duty broke protocol and allowed them entry through the museum’s security door.
Once inside, the thieves asked that the guard come around from behind the desk, claiming that they recognized him and that there was a warrant out for his arrest.
Degas, Three Mounted Jockeys Black ink, white, flesh and rose washes, probably oil pigments, applied with a brush onmedium brown paper, 30.5 x 24 cm
Degas, Program for an artistic soirée, 1884 Charcoal on white paper, 24.1 x 30.9 cm And Degas' Program for an artistic soirée, 1884
Finial in the form of an eagle gilt metal (bronze), French, 1813–1814 approx. 10 in. high
One book on the theft theorized that the heist was carried out by a Boston mobster.
In 2012, FBI agents swarmed the home of reputed Connecticut mobster Robert Gentile looking for new evidence in the Gardner Museum heist.
A federal prosecutor disclosed in 2012 that the FBI believes Gentile had some involvement with stolen property related to the 1990 heist at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Gentile hasn't been charged in the art heist and his lawyer says his client knows nothing about it.
In May 2016, agents returned to Gentile's property. No evidence from the art heist was found, but he was arrested on weapons charges.
Gentile, who was believed to be the last surviving person of interest in the case, died in 2021.
There has never been a sighting of the paintings since their theft, leading some to wonder if they are in the hands of a private collector.
In 2013, the FBI said it believed it knows who was behind the theft, but did not reveal the suspect's names.
Richard "Rick" Abath, the guard who let the thieves inside the building, died in February 2024 at age 57 at his Vermont home after a long illness, according to his attorney.
The Gardner Museum continues to actively investigate any and all leads related to the theft.
