RYAN MCBRIDE/AFP via Getty Images
More than 30 years ago, a priceless Rembrandt painting titled “Christ in the Storm of the Sea of Galilee” and 12 other works were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in one of the biggest, most brazen, most captivating and most confounding art heists ever. Today, that Rembrandt is hidden away but on display in a palace in Saudi Arabia. Or maybe it’s somewhere in Canada, South America or Japan or France or Jamaica, or in the basement of a church in South Boston or buried in the backyard of some old gangster’s house. Perhaps the most likely and certainly saddest scenario of all: These beautiful and irreplaceable works were destroyed and discarded by some person(s) who had upwards of $500 million in art on their hands, and couldn’t figure out a way to sell them without getting caught.
SERIES REVIEW by Richard Roeper THIS IS A ROBBERY: THE WORLD S BIGGEST ART HEIST Three and a half stars
A four-part docuseries available April 7 on Netflix.
More than 30 years ago, a priceless Rembrandt painting titled Christ in the Storm of the Sea of Galilee and 12 other works were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in one of the biggest, most brazen, most captivating and most confounding art heists ever.
Today, that Rembrandt is hidden away but on display in a palace in Saudi Arabia. Or maybe it s somewhere in Canada, South America or Japan or France or Jamaica, or in the basement of a church in South Boston or buried in the backyard of some old gangster s house. Perhaps the most likely and certainly saddest scenario of all: These beautiful and irreplaceable works were destroyed and discarded by some person(s) who had upwards of $500 million in art on their hands and couldn t figure out a way to sell them without getting caught.
‘An art thief’s delight’: Netflix crime documentary examines heist at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum from 1990
Updated 10:15 AM;
Today 10:15 AM
In this March 21, 1990, file photo, a security guard stands outside the Dutch Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the site where robbers stole treasured art objects in Boston. The Mead Art Museum in Amherst, Mass., is offering visitors a unique glimpse of the 13 masterpieces stolen more than a quarter century ago from the Gardner Museum. The exhibit opening Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, shows the work of San Francisco-based artist Kota Ezawa.Associated Press
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Thirty-one years after two men dressed as Boston police officers were allowed into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and stole 13 pieces of art, the heist and the $10 million reward for the recovery of the missing pieces comes to Netflix.
Consuming true crime can be a queasy business. There’s clearly an appetite for the stuff, as attested by the ever-growing ranks of podcasts, films and TV shows dedicated to recounting these tales of death and depravity. Still, how many serial killers can one moderately well-adjusted viewer take? I was relieved to learn that Netflix’s latest addition to the genre would investigate not another murder but an art crime – ‘the biggest art heist in history’, no less, as we’re told three times in the first three minutes of
This Is a Robbery. The documentary re-examines the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery of 1990.
Their View: Stealing timeless art robs us of more than money
Robert Maguire Contributing Columnist
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The recent publication of the book, “The Woman Who Stole Vermeer” by Anthony M. Armor, chronicles the story of a highly educated English heiress who turned revolutionary for the IRA. This story of Bridget Dugdale is about the mastermind behind one of the most valuable art heists in history, the private collection of Sir Alfred Beit. Nineteen works were stolen from this collection of master artists Gainsborough, Goya, Hals, Rubens, Valequez and Vermeer. Motivation to steal these works was to have ransom for the IRA cause. Fortunately, these masterpieces were recovered and subsequently, Dogdale was convicted.