Over the last 35 years, numerous international museums have been the scene of daring art thefts: from the “heist of the century” at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston to the massive looting of the British Museum
In the last 35 years, among paintings and jewels, there have been numerous heists carried out by thieves who have crossed the thresholds of the most important museums in the world. In some cases the works have been found, in others they have disappeared into thin air.
1990, Boston
In 1990, 13 never-before-found works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in what is still considered the largest art theft in the United States. In the daring coup, two men, disguised as policemen, stormed the museum claiming to have received a call. Unlike the most recent episode in the Louvre, in this case the thieves took their time: after tying up two security guards with duct tape, it took them an hour and a half to complete the theft. Among the stolen works, “The Concert” by Vermeer and the masterpieces of Degas, Manet and Rembrandt.
1991, Amsterdam
A successful, but short-lived, art theft concerns the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam: in April 1991, 20 paintings were stolen, including “The Potato Eaters”, worth 500 million dollars. The paintings were found shortly afterwards in an abandoned car.
1993, Stockholm
Eight masterpieces by Picasso and Braque, worth $60 million, were stolen from the Museum of Modern Art. Some of the works were recovered in the following months.
2001, Stockholm
Two paintings by Renoir and a self-portrait by Rembrandt have disappeared from the National Museum in Stockholm. Renoir’s “The Conversation” was recovered after four months, while the Rembrandt was found four years later, in 2005.
2002, Amsterdam
After the thefts in 1991, two oil paintings by the Dutch painter were stolen from the same Van Gogh Museum in 2002, each worth $56 million. The works were found 14 years later, in 2016. The recovery was thanks to the Italian Financial Police: the paintings were discovered during an anti-drug operation in the house of an alleged Camorra drug trafficker.
2003, Scotland
In Drumlanrig Castle, residence of the Duke of Buccleuch, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Madonna of the spindles”, valued at 53 million dollars, was stolen. The thieves demanded a ransom of £4.25 million, threatening to destroy the work. The painting was later recovered in 2007 and four people were arrested.
2004, Oslo
In Norway, in the Munch Museum, the thieves’ targets were “The Scream” and “The Madonna” by Edvard Munch. The paintings were found exactly two years later, in August 2006. The theft particularly shocked the Norwegian capital: two men entered the museum in broad daylight, armed and with their faces covered, threatening the visitors present with guns.
2008, Zurich
Four oil paintings by Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Van Gogh and Claude Monet have disappeared from the Buehrle Collection, worth $164 million. The works of Monet and Van Gogh were recovered shortly afterwards, while Cézanne’s painting will be found in 2012 in Serbia.
2010, Paris
Five works, including paintings by Picasso and Matisse, were stolen from the Musée d’Art Moderne, worth 120 million euros. The paintings were never found, unlike the thief: Vjeran Tomic was arrested in 2011.
2011, Rotterdam
Other paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Monet have disappeared from the Kunsthal Museum. In 2013, a Romanian man ended up in handcuffs.
2019, Dresden
In Germany, the target of thieves was 18th century jewellery: in just eight minutes, pieces studded with 4,300 diamonds worth 113 million euros were stolen. Before breaking into the Grünes Gewölbe Museum, the criminals set a fire in the surrounding area to cut off the power and then cut the iron bars on one of the building’s windows. Some of the loot was found and five men were convicted in 2023.
2020, Amsterdam and Utrecht
During the pandemic, in Singer Laren Museum in Amsterdam the painting “Spring Garden” by Van Gogh. Near Utrecht, from the Hofje van Mevrouw Van Aerden Museum, the work “Laughing Boys” by the Flemish artist Frans Hals has disappeared for the third time.
2023, London
The British Museum two years ago admitted that 2,000 artefacts, including gold jewelery and precious gems, had been stolen over a long period in what it said was an insider crime. In fact, one staff member was fired after items went missing from a warehouse.
