Girl at the Window by Gauguin
Art Museums

Stolen masterpieces. Canvases stolen from museums and still not found

Works of art often attract the attention of not only visitors to art galleries, but also people with no interest in painting at all. Painters’ canvases become the main “heroes” of popular films (remember the Hollywood “Da Vinci Code”), whose plot captures the imagination of even those moviegoers who have visited the museum only once in their life, as part of a school trip. And, unfortunately, references to masterpieces can often be found on the pages of the “criminal chronicle”. Speaking of cinema.

Remember the Soviet detective blockbuster “The Return of St. Luke”? The film is based on real events – the abduction from the Moscow exhibition “Evangelist Luke” by Frans Hals. Then the painting was found, but many great works stolen from museums and private collections were not so lucky. Their search continues to this day, and could well serve as the basis for writing many scripts.

Stolen masterpieces. Concert by Jan Vermeer
Concert by Jan Vermeer

Stolen masterpieces. “Concert” by Jan Vermeer, “Christ in the Storm” by Rembrandt

On March 18, 1990, thieves brazenly stole 13 works of art from the Gardner Museum in Boston. This kidnapping was called the robbery of the century – the criminals acted insolently and assertively. Having changed into the uniform of police officers, they tied up and locked the guards, then carried the canvases out of the hall. The robbers met in 81 minutes – so much passed from the moment the thieves entered the building until the moment they left it with the loot.

Among the stolen masterpieces – “Concert” by Vermeer (he is considered the most valuable loss) and an early painting by Rembrandt with the biblical scene of Christ in the Sea of ​​Galilee.

Two outstanding examples of painting have not been found to this day, and those who help find them are promised a reward of $ 5 million. In addition to these paintings, during the robbery, the works of Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas disappeared, also still not found. They say the gallery is now showing visitors the empty frames that previously contained the masterpieces.

Stolen masterpieces. Portrait of a Young Man Raphael
Portrait of a Young Man Raphael

“Portrait of a Young Man” Raphael

Hitler’s expansion caused serious damage to the world’s art collection. Many were seriously injured, some disappeared and have not been found to this day. The loss of the “Portrait of a Young Man” by Raphael (some art critics believe that this canvas is a self-portrait of the artist) is an irreplaceable loss for world culture. The painting was confiscated in 1939 for Hitler’s gallery in Linz. After 1945, the masterpiece taken out of the Krakow collection disappeared without a trace.

Several years ago, the Polish authorities announced that the painting had been found and was in a reliable bank. True, no details about the location of the painting, which many historians consider the most serious loss of the Second World War, have not surfaced since then.

Stolen masterpieces. Poppies by van Gogh
Poppies by van Gogh

“Poppies” by van Gogh

In 2010, the famous Vangogov “Poppies” (“Vase of Flowers”), a canvas worth $ 55 million, was stolen from the Cairo Museum. On the day of the robbery, only a few of the surveillance cameras were working in the museum building, and the alarm was completely turned off.

The police concluded that gallery employees and a high-ranking official were involved in the theft. There is a version that the criminals did not steal the original that day, but only a copy of the work – the original was stolen back in 1978. Alas, neither the original, nor the reproduction, if any, has not yet been found.

Stolen masterpieces. Dove with green peas by Picasso
Dove with green peas by Picasso

“Dove with green peas” by Picasso

This crime story happened at the end of May 2010. Then a single thief entered the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, only breaking glass and breaking one lock. The robber carefully removed the canvases from the frames and disappeared. Among the five stolen masterpieces was a painting by one of the most expensive painters in the world, Picasso, “Dove and Peas”. Other stolen paintings belong to no less eminent authors – Henri Matisse, Amadeo Modigliani, Georges Braque and Fernand Léger.

In 2011, the thief was arrested, but the works were never found. Experts believe that the theft was made to order, since it is impossible to secretly sell paintings of this level.

Stolen masterpieces. Harlequin by Picasso
Harlequin by Picasso
“Waterloo Bridge” by Monet, “Girl at the Window” by Gauguin and “Harlequin” by Picasso

In the Rotterdam Kunsthal Museum, thieves stole 7 priceless masterpieces of painting, including paintings by Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Picasso, Matisse and de Haan. This unprecedented theft took place in mid-October 2012.

The most eerie thing about it is that we will never see most of these pictures again. Experts say that the theft in the Kunsthal is not only the largest, but also one of the most tragic, because the masterpieces were lost. After the arrest of the criminal, his mother burned them to hide the evidence against her son.

Shepherd Boucher
Shepherd Boucher
“Shepherd” Boucher, “Princess Sibylla of Cleves”

Works of art often attract the attention of not only visitors to art galleries, but also people with no interest in painting at all. Painters’ canvases become the main “heroes” of popular films (remember the Hollywood “Da Vinci Code”), whose plot captures the imagination of even those moviegoers who have visited the museum only once in their life, as part of a school trip. And, unfortunately, references to masterpieces can often be found on the pages of the “criminal chronicle”. Speaking of cinema.

Remember the Soviet detective blockbuster “The Return of St. Luke”? The film is based on real events – the abduction from the Moscow exhibition “Evangelist Luke” by Frans Hals. Then the painting was found, but many great works stolen from museums and private collections were not so lucky. Their search continues to this day, and could well serve as the basis for writing many scripts.

Princess Sibylla of Cleves
Princess Sibylla of Cleves
Girl at the Window by Gauguin
Girl at the Window by Gauguin
Waterloo Bridge by Monet
Waterloo Bridge by Monet
Christ in the Storm by Rembrandt
Christ in the Storm by Rembrandt. Stolen masterpieces
Mona Lisa. Da vinci
Mona Lisa. Da vinci. Stolen masterpieces