Whether recovered or lost forever, these stolen artworks continue to spark fascination due to their priceless value and rarity. From notorious heists to coveted historical treasures, these art thefts represent some of the most incredible crimes in history.
Mysterious and disturbing, art thefts never cease to fascinate and inspire. While paintings sold at auction reach astronomical sums, certain criminals steal masterpieces from art history to resell the originals or keep them in their private residences. Among them, French compulsive art thief Stéphane Breitwieser had seized nearly two hundred works to decorate his home.
As cinema takes on these wild stories, the film 'Les Règles de l'Art' released this year retraces the journey of an unsuspected burglar who committed the heist of the century: five master paintings disappeared on the night of May 19, 2010, from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, without the alarm being triggered. Works by Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso, and Amedeo Modigliani simply vanished. Here are the true stories behind the theft of these iconic artworks.
**The Most Mythical Theft: The Mona Lisa**
While the Louvre Museum was closed on Monday, August 21, 1911, a former Italian worker entered the museum around seven in the morning, dressed in his work smock. He took down Leonardo da Vinci's painting, removed it from its frame which he abandoned in the stairwell, and left the museum with the canvas rolled up and hidden under his clothes. The theft wasn't discovered until the next morning. Vincenzo Peruggia hid the painting for nearly two years in his Parisian room on Rue de l'Hôpital-Saint-Louis, in a suitcase he kept under his bed. The theft of this painting would be considered one of the greatest art thefts of the 20th century.
**The Repeat Offense Theft: The Scream**
The painting by Norwegian master Edvard Munch was stolen twice. During the opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympics, thieves broke a window at the National Gallery in Oslo and seized the iconic painting. Claimed by a group demanding a ransom of $1 million, the work was found intact a few months later in a small town near Oslo. Ten years later, in 2004, 'The Scream' was again the target of theft, this time in broad daylight at the Munch Museum in Oslo. Two armed and masked men seized the paintings 'The Scream' and 'The Madonna' in a matter of minutes before the horrified eyes of visitors. Somewhat damaged, the works were returned to their original exhibition location nearly two years after the theft.
**The Most Audacious Theft: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist**
Disguised as police officers, thieves infiltrated the Boston museum in 1990 and made off with 13 artworks. Five paintings by Edgar Degas, three paintings by Rembrandt, one by Jan Vermeer, one by Édouard Manet, one by Govert Flinck, and a Chinese vase with a bronze eagle all disappeared. Still unknown to this day, the storage location of these works has never been determined. In memory of the theft, only the empty frames remain hanging on the museum walls to this day. Conservators at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston maintain these empty frames as a reminder of the brazen heist that occurred 35 years ago.
**The Most Ingenious Theft: Landscape at Auvers**
Taking advantage of the fireworks launched to celebrate the arrival of the year 2000, a burglar seized Paul Cézanne's painting 'Landscape at Auvers' displayed at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. He entered the museum through the roof, broke a window, and took advantage of the celebration to steal the painting. Still missing, the canvas estimated at four million euros was not insured. A legendary heist aided by a massive diversion.
**The Most Organized Theft: Marc Chagall's Works**
After the death of artist Marc Chagall in his villa in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, his wife appointed a caretaker and housekeeper to look after his property. At the request of a mole catcher, the caretaker entered his artist's studio and stole both works in progress and completed pieces by Chagall, just steps away from the charming Provençal village. Paintings, gouaches, and lithographs were silently stolen and sold on the art market between 1988 and 1990.
These extraordinary art thefts continue to captivate the public imagination, representing not just criminal acts but cultural tragedies that have deprived the world of access to priceless masterpieces. While some works like the Mona Lisa and The Scream were eventually recovered, others remain lost, their whereabouts unknown and their return to public view uncertain. The empty frames at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum serve as haunting reminders of what was lost, while the ongoing investigations into these crimes demonstrate the persistent efforts to recover stolen cultural heritage.
The methods employed by these thieves ranged from simple opportunism to elaborate planning, but all shared a common thread: the targeting of irreplaceable cultural artifacts whose value extends far beyond their monetary worth. These thefts have not only resulted in financial losses but have also deprived generations of art lovers from experiencing these masterpieces firsthand, making them among the most significant crimes against cultural heritage in modern history.
