13 of the most daring museum robberies, many of which are still not solved

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Art has played a significant role throughout human history. And it is not at all surprising that soon, as soon as the demand for works of art increased, they began to "hunt" for paintings all over the world. The attackers did not go to some tricks and tricks in order to get the desired "prey". Some used force, others - distracting maneuvers, others - forgeries that replaced the originals, and the fourth, as if nothing had happened, left the museum with a famous painting, simply hiding it under a coat. Since then, some of them have been found and returned to their rightful places, but most remain sunk into oblivion …

1. Garden of the priest in Nuenen

At the end of March 2020, all over the world due to a new virus spreading at the speed of sound, restaurants, museums, entertainment centers and much more had to be closed in order to avoid a worldwide catastrophe. Forced precautions have led to new consequences, freeing the hands of fraudsters and robbers who do not miss the opportunity to cash in on anything. The lack of people on the city streets and in public places allowed a fraudster (or a group of fraudsters) to raid The Singer Laren Museum in the Netherlands and steal Van Gogh's 1884 painting "Priest's Garden at Nuenen, Spring". According to the Associated Press, the cost of the painting was not immediately announced, but it is estimated at millions of dollars. Museum Director Jan Rudolph de Lorme said in a statement:

… An alarm went off and a special outfit was dispatched. However, by the time they arrived, the culprit (or criminals) had already disappeared.

2. View of Auvers-sur-Oise

While everyone else was celebrating the turn of the millennium on the night of December 31, 1999, a British fraudster successfully stole a painting worth nearly $ 5 million. The incident took place at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England.

A thief entered the museum when the entire city was distracted by loud fireworks. He cut a hole in the roof of the museum and climbed down the rope ladder. Once inside, he blew out smoke to hide himself from the cameras. This painting "View of Auvers-sur-Oise" by Paul Cézanne has never been found.

3. Forgeries of famous paintings

In just two years - from 2004 to 2006 - the chief librarian of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts gradually replaced one hundred and twenty-five paintings with his own works of art. Xiao Yuan sold these pieces at various auctions for a total of $ 6 million. When he was caught, he still had eleven million dollars worth of stolen artwork.

But even after being caught hot, Xiao defended himself with all his might, claiming that unknown artists replaced his forgeries with their own.

4. A series of thefts of works of art

In the spring of 1990, two men posing as police officers stole thirteen works of art worth five hundred million dollars. The incident took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, where they appeared in fake uniforms and fake mustaches, claiming they had received a call about the riot.

After the robbers got inside with their fake IDs, they tied up the guards and got it done in less than an hour. They stole works by renowned artists, including Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet and Flink. These valuable works have never been found, and the FBI and the museum are still offering a $ 5 million reward for information on their whereabouts.

5. Sketch by Salvador Dali

In 2004, four prison guards on Rikers Island teamed up to shoot a valuable sketch of Christ, which was originally hung on the wall of the prison dining room, but after an incident in which one of the inmates spilled coffee on it, the drawing was moved to the foyer, where access for bystanders other than prison staff was closed. This sketch was donated by Salvador Dali, who felt guilty for refusing to teach art lessons in prison. The guards turned on the fire alarm to distract the night lobby guard while they removed the canvas and replaced it with a copy, but this copy was very poorly drawn. According to those who saw it, it was an incredibly clumsy work, more like the work of not the most talented child. But the guards obsessed with the idea of profit did not take into account this fact, and simply replaced the original with a copy, pasting it into a frame. The move was so rash that it prompted prison staff to suspect a substitution, and the police were eventually called in to investigate. And in the end, the thieves were found in hot pursuit, and the drawing returned safely to its place.

6. Mona Lisa

The famous "Mona Lisa" was stolen in 1911 from the world's largest museum - the Louvre. After two years of investigation, the culprit was finally found. He contacted an Italian art dealer who helped the French authorities arrange a fake meeting. It turned out to be Vincenzo Perugia, a former employee of the Louvre.

Perugia admitted that he decided to steal the painting, obeying a sudden impulse, and did so only because he noticed that the guard had temporarily left the room. He simply removed the painting from the frame and tucked it under his coat before calmly leaving the museum.

7. Poppies Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh's poppies were stolen from the Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo, Egypt in 2010, thirty-three years after they were last stolen from the same museum.

The scammers were very lucky, as only seven of the twenty-four security guards were working that day. First, two Italian suspects were detained and interrogated; at that time they carried a small canvas. Eventually, however, they were released; the painting was never found, and billionaire Naguib Sawiris offered a reward of one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars for the relevant information.

8. Another series of thefts

Seven paintings were stolen from the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in the fall of 2012. Some of them were painted by famous artists such as Monet, de Haan and Gauguin. The scammers were able to deactivate the security system and complete the entire robbery in just three minutes.

But the most interesting and outrageous thing is that one of the robbers, Radu Dogaru, threatened to sue the museum for having an unreliable security system.

9. Christmas with St. Francis and St. Lawrence

Caravaggio's painting "Christmas with St. Francis and St. Lawrence" was stolen from the chapel of San Lorenzo in Palermo, Sicily, in the fall of 1969. The large painting was removed from the frame and folded tightly for better transport. According to one version, this painting was stolen at the request of one of the largest mafia groups.

And despite the fact that this work of art was never found, it was still scientifically reconstructed in 2015.

10. Paintings by Van Gogh

In the winter of 2002, two fraudsters stole from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam Van Gogh's "Sea View at Scheveningen" and "Parishioners Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen". They entered the room through the roof and managed to hide their faces from surveillance cameras.

Although two suspects were arrested and later convicted in 2004, the paintings have not yet been found. Therefore, there is still a $ 100,000 reward for anyone in possession of the relevant information.

11. Fair judges

In 1934, Arsene Gedertier stole Jan van Eyck's Just Judges from Saint Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. This fragment is part of a 12-part altar called "The Worship of the Lamb".

Gedertier asked government officials to buy the piece for one million Belgian francs. He also left a note that said, "Taken from Germany under the Treaty of Versailles." On his deathbed, he eventually revealed his identity as the thief of the painting, but did not tell anyone where it was hidden.

12. Scream

Former professional footballer Paal Anger stole two of Edvard Munch's most famous paintings. In 1988, he stole the Vampire by climbing through an open window into the Munch Museum. After serving three years, he decided to steal the legendary "Scream" Munch during the 1994 Winter Olympics. He even posted an ad in the newspaper with the phrase "This is a scream" to tease investigators. He was caught shortly thereafter and the painting was returned.

But Scream was again kidnapped in 2002 by gunmen wearing ski masks.

13. Stefan Braitweather

Stefan Braitweather is perhaps the world's most famous modern art kidnapper. He acquired over two hundred and forty art objects, including paintings, drawings, chandeliers, vases, clocks and jewelry. After serving several years in prison, he decided to write a memoir about his activities, entitled "Confessions of an art thief."

After his release, Braitweather began stealing art again until he was caught in 2011. This time, his mother was also detained as an accomplice because she knew about his activities and even hid some of the stolen items in her home.

Not everyone, even ardent connoisseurs of art, knows. As it turned out, each of them has not only a hidden meaning, but also an encrypted message with its own secrets.