Twenty-three years ago, early on the morning of March 18, 1990, two thieves dressed as police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum while everyone outside was preparing for the St. Patrick’s Day parade and committed the largest art robbery in history. Thirteen pieces were stolen including a Rembrandt, a Vermeer, five Degas drawings, a Manet and more. The estimated value is over $500 million! Read more about the art here.
And the theft is still a mystery. The art has not been recovered and there are really no leads bringing the FBI closer to recovering the art. When I was in Boston a few years ago I visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and saw her unusual collection. (Read about that visit here.) But the really weird part was to walk by a wonderful painting and then see an empty frame right next to it (see above) where the thieves cut the art right out of their frame. The Board of Directors chose to leave the frames exactly as they were since Gardner had left explicit directions that the art remain as she left it.
Isabella Stewart Gardner by John Singer Sargent
The museum is fascinating in that is a home that houses a wonderful collection. Asked in 1917 about building a museum and Gardner said,
“Years ago I decided that the greatest need in our Country was Art… We were a very young country and had very few opportunities of seeing beautiful things, works of art… So, I determined to make it my life’s work if I could.”
She was a fascinating woman. I hope you spend a little time reading more about her and her museum.
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The Studio 