Art is amazing. Some if it is worth millions and in reality, priceless. In 1962, Mona Lisa was assessed at a value of 100 million dollars. Today, however, the painting isn’t even insured as it is considered irreplaceable. For years, thieves have been taking advantage of opportunities to make a quick buck off art that isn’t theirs. One way is to try and sell these priceless artifacts. This is very difficult to do with famous paintings. Plenty of thieves have been caught red handed trying to hock stolen art. Another way thieves try to make money is hold the artifacts ransom in hopes that museums will pay big money to get them back. Here are the top 8 most daring heists of famous paintings from the last century (or so).

1. Boston 1990 The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was robbed in the early morning hours of March 18th. Two thieves, impersonating police officers, tricked museum guards into letting them on premises under the guise of a disturbance call. The thieves duct taped the guards and spent the next hour stealing 13 priceless works of art. The stolen pieces are valued around 500 million dollars. Some of the most valuable paintings include Manet’s Chez Tortoni, Rembrandt’s Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, and Vermeer’s The Concert.

Manet’s Chez Tortoni

Rembrandt’s Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Vermeer’s The Concert

None of the 13 items stolen that morning has ever been recovered and the museum is currently offering a 10 million dollar reward for information leading to the return of the paintings. The FBI has no new leads as to the identities of the two thieves or the whereabouts of the stolen items. However, there are some theories as to who could have orchestrated the robbery including The Boston Mafia or a street gang in Dorchester. You can visit the museum where empty frames hang to pay tribute to the missing paintings.

2. Paris 1911 The Mona Lisa disappeared the morning of August 21st as three men quietly exited the Louvre. The ringleader, Vincenzo Peruggia, was a handy man who had worked with the museum. He installed the protective glass surrounding the Mona Lisa.  The previously unknown painting was catapulted into fame, overnight, as the theft made headlines.

Vincenzo Peruggia

Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa

For over two years the painting remained at large. Finally, Peruggia attempted to sell the painting to an art dealer in Florence, Italy. The art dealer was suspicious, contacted the authorities, and Peruggia was apprehended within the hour.

3.  Oslo 2004 The Munch Museum in Norway is dedicated to the artistic works of Edvard Munch. One Sunday morning in August it was robbed by masked men with guns. Museum guards and tourists were forced to lay on the ground while the gunmen stole two pieces of art, clipping their security cords free from the wall. The first was Madonna and the second, very well known, The Scream. The police arrived in under a minute but not before the thieves escaped in their black Audi A6 station wagon.

Munch’s Scream. One of two version’s of this painting

Munch’s The Madonna

In 2005 a suspect was arrested in connection with the thefts, followed shortly after by several more. The paintings, however, had yet to be recovered. It was rumored the paintings had been burned to eliminate evidence of the theft.  Although a 2 million krone reward was posted for information leading to the recovery of the paintings, no leads came in. Finally, in August 2006, the paintings were recovered in good condition!

4. Manchester 2003 The Whitworth Art Gallery, located at the University of Manchester in England,  was robbed the evening of April 26th.  The thieves reportedly forced their way through a rear door then walked off with three works of art totaling  4 million pounds.  The stolen paintings included Van Gogh’s The Fortifications of Paris with Houses, Picasso’s  Poverty and Gauguin’s Tahitian Landscape.

Van Gogh’s The Fortifications of Paris with Houses

Picasso’s  Poverty

Gauguin’s Tahitian Landscape

After an anonymous tip came through to police, all three paintings were recovered a mere two days after the theft. Included with the art was note that read “The intention was not to steal, only to highlight woeful security.”

5. Polermo 1969 Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco, an altarpiece by Caravaggio, was cut from its frame during the night of October 17th. The thieves gained entry to the  Church of San Lorenzo in Polermo stealing a rug in addition to the painting. The large painting measured 9 feet by 6.5 feet and its believed the painting was wrapped in the rug for transport. Investigators suspect the Sicilian Mafia may have something to do with the theft.

Caravaggio Nativity with San Lorenzo an San Francesco

Interior of the Church of San Lorenzo in Palermo, Italy

Unfortunately, the painting has yet to be recovered. Its value is estimated to be around 20 million dollars.  A high quality replica was commissioned in 2015, by Factum Arte, to hang in place of the missing painting.

6. Berlin 1976 The Poor Poet by Carl Spitzweg, known as Hitlers favorite painting, was stolen from the New National Gallery on December 11th. The thief, Ulay, was a performance artists. He wanted to make a statement and document, with video cameras from multiple angles, the theft in progress. He simply distracted the guard with a manacle outburst of laughing, ran to the painting ripping it off the wall, clipped the wire and took off towards emergency exit as sirens blared. Outside as Ulay ran towards his car, guards closing in, he slipped on snow. Somehow he still managed to escape and drive away with the painting!

Spitzweg’s The Poet

Ulay running off with The Poet

Ulay brought the painting to a local Turkish family, to hang on the wall, then waited for local authorities and the museum director to show up. For his performance of protest,  Ulay ended up spending 10 days in jail. This was time served only after being caught re-entering German borders, for the second time. He nearly got away with it.

7.  Montreal 1972 The largest theft in Canadian history took place September 4th of Labor Day weekend. Three armed thieves robbed the Museum of Fine Arts of 18 precious paintings, along with jewelry and figurines. They entered the museum through a skylight that was under repair, fired two warning shots into the ceiling and tied up the guards. The ultimate goal was to negotiate a ransom, in return for the artifacts. A pendant and one painting, Brueghel’s Landscape with Buildings and Wagon,  was returned to help initiate negotiations. These ultimately fell through and no further paintings have ever been recovered.

Rembrandt’s Landscape with Cottages (missing)

Brueghel’s Landscape with Building and Wagon (Returned)

De Heem’s Still Life: Vanitas (missing)

The estimated value of the stolen items, back in the 70’s, was two million dollars (nearly 12 million today). One of the paintings stolen, a rare Rembrandt landscape entitled Landscape with Cottages, has an estimated value at over a million dollars today.

8. Stockholm 2000 The National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden was robbed the evening of December 22, just a few days before Christmas. In one of the most elaborate heists in history, three paintings were targeted and stolen. One was a self portrait of Rembrandt, and the other two were paintings by Renoir.

Rembrandt’s Self Portrait

Renoir’s Conversation with the Gardner

Renoir’s Young Parisian

Three men armed men entered the museum shortly before 5 pm. They were carrying machine guns to overtake the guards. During this time, two bombs exploded in different areas of the city to distract the police and emergency services. Additionally, the robbers had preemptively slashed the tires of first responders to delay their arrival at the museum. After grabbing the paintings, the robbers made their epic getaway in a motorboat. Within months several arrests were made, including two lawyers. Miraculously, all of the paintings were eventually recovered.

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