The Lost Paintings - 3 of the Craziest Museum Heists To Feed Your Knowledge

Can you imagine walking into a museum to view some of the most famous works of art to only be able to see a picture frame that's left hanging where the artwork once graced the wall!

I can't!

As I finished watching Buzzfeed Unsolved on Youtube regarding the Gardner Museum heist, I'm completely baffled by the whole scenario. I can't even fathom the thought that after hours of hard work and promoting and carefully framing a work of art to have it cut from its frame because someone wanted it so bad! Which led me to somewhat deviate from my own blog Content Calendar already, as this is not scheduled on there. I wanted to share three of the craziest heists to further other artists and art collectors' knowledge of paintings that have been lost.

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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston)

In 1990, two security guards were on duty at the time. One was a known "hippie," and the other was MIA of course. Two suspected mafia dudes show up with police officer uniforms on and make their way into the museum very easily. They say to the hippie behind the counter where the only 911 button was located, "I think there is a warrant out for your arrest, we need to see some ID" for him to comply and become trapped by the robbers plan as he was not even frisked before being handcuffed.

The other guard, who usually worked day-shift was filling in for the regular night watcher that called off sick, was given the same treatment after returning from his rounds. They both found this strange....before the "police officers" informed them that they weren't being arrested after all and this was indeed a robbery. The robbers then took them down to the basement and made sure that they wouldn't be able to escape until someone rescued them which didn't occur until the next morning when the next shift guards couldn't get into the building.

The craziest parts of this heist include:

1.) Latest FBI investigation recovered videos of the day before: The night before the heist took place it can be seen on surveillance cameras that the "hippie" actually let a man into the museum using the same awkward door entrance the costumed robbers went to. Violating the museum policy that no one is to enter the museum after closing not even law enforcement. The man was there for only a few minutes, and it still has not been released what was exactly said. The "hippie" not only opened the door for him but also had what looks like an engaging conversion as well. I'm wondering what exactly was said.....

This video footage is the only recovered footage that's been released so far. The footage that would give away the thieves from the actual crime was destroyed before they left the premises.

2.) The robbers spent a whopping 81 minutes inside the museum according to motion detectors. Yep, you read it correctly, an hour and 21 minutes! That's record-breaking according to robbery statistics unless something or someone personal is involved! This was back in the day before cell phones and WiFi was widespread, so I wonder what the heck they were doing that whole time.

3.)  Among the 13 paintings lost was Rembrandt's only seascape which was in front of a hidden door that was left open. This was also the painting that was cut with a knife from its frame and had an outdated and flawed security device attached to it that was not hooked up to alert anyone other than the security guards that were tied up in the cellar.

The more I read about this heist I'm beginning to think that the robbers were actually after whatever was behind the secret door.  They spent the most time and did the most damage in what is called the Dutch Room where the hidden door is located. The only painting that had a security device directly on it just happened to be the one that was in front of there and was explained away by saying it was to keep people from touching it. Low and behold it had a protective plastic cover on it, so their excuses are flawed. It's a wonder why these paintings were never recovered when the Aristocratic snobs running the place are too busy being withholding information.

The Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam)

There have been a few heists at this museum the craziest being in 2002 as the two stolen paintings were recently recovered with minimal damage in 2017.

During this heist, two men used a ladder to climb up on a roof, smashed a window on the ceiling and one of them lowered himself down into the museum using rope. The accomplice helped get him back out of the museum with that same rope. The robbery took only 4 minutes, and they just stole 2 paintings along with the frames!

The craziest parts of this heist include:

1.) The escape plan involved sliding down a rope from the roof while the art was secured in a backpack. I imagine a scene straight out of a James Bond movie. Taking off their ski masks once inside the getaway car that they drove themselves, the crooks drove right past the cops that were on their way to the crime looking right at them as they passed them. When they landed on the ground the impact from the descent was harsher than expected and Van Gogh's Seascape at Scheveningen was scraped. This is an essential and priceless masterpiece of Van Gogh's due to never being put on the market for sale and one of his earlier creations.

2.) The lost paintings were recovered last year after investigators cracked down on a mobster affiliated cocaine trafficking ring. They were stored behind a false wall wrapped in a blanket of one of the gangster's apartments. The thieves had sold them in the underground black market to a man affiliated with the Italian mafia who sold pot at a local coffee shop.

3.) The art was not stolen because the thieves were Van Gogh fans, they merely took them because after casing the joint it looked like an excellent opportunity to quickly get in and out. That explains why they stole two of the smaller paintings. Paint chips that came off of the seascape painting were flushed down a toilet, and the original frame was removed once the criminals returned home to be discarded in a canal nearby. Why they just couldn't leave the canvas in the original stretcher bars since they already did the hard part of getting it out of the museum with it attached just shows how idiotic these James Bond wannabes really were!

The Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de (Paris)

The modern and contemporary museum located in Paris became a victim of a heist in 2010 by a professional thief known as "The Spider-Man." This man is known for his acrobat maneuvers when pilfering items in high-rise apartments. However, not much skill was needed to pull this one off.

The craziest parts of this heist include:

1.) This robber actually knew how to remove a painting from its frame! He was even kind enough to leave the structures behind unharmed. Before donning a prison uniform, he worked as an antique dealer and art expert.

2.) The security system never went off, the museum staff didn't even realize they had been robbed until the next day. They blamed it on a technical error. Personally, I think it was from a human error. Likely that someone forgot to set the alarm before they left work. The bandit got away with 5 paintings instead of just 1 that he was hired to steal.

3.) The Spidey thief and accomplices were convicted, however, the art never returned. One of the accomplices that were hiding the art admitted to destroying the paintings to get rid of evidence before their trial. Yeah right! It's probably re-hidden in an underground bunker somewhere!

I hope that this post has piqued your interest and gave you more insight on the craziest art heists in history! Since we're on the topic of art, be sure to check out my artworks for sale on my website!


This post was proofread by Grammarly