More than three decades after thieves stole 13 works of art during a 1990 heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the world – and FBI investigators – are no closer to recovering the paintings, drawings and etchings by such masters as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet, and Degas.
The theft remains the most baffling art heist mystery in the world and is the largest property crime in U.S. history. The haul included a priceless Vermeer, three paintings by Rembrandt, five by Degas and a Manet.
The Museum is offering a $10 million dollar reward for information leading directly to the safe return of the stolen works. A share of the reward would be given in exchange for information leading to the restitution of any portion of the works.
A separate reward of $100,000 is being offered for the return of the Napoleonic eagle finial.
Anyone with information about the stolen artworks should contact the Gardner Museum directly. Confidentiality is assured.
On March 18, 1990, two men disguised as police officers robbed the museum of approximately $500 million worth of masterpieces.
Some of the stolen works, from left to right:
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Oil on canvas, 161.7 x 129.8. cm.
Johannes Vermeer, The Concert, Oil on canvas, 72.5 x 64.7 cm.
Edgar Degas, Leaving the Paddock (La sortie du pesage), Watercolor & pencil on paper , 10.5 x 16 cm.
Rembrandt van Rijn, A Lady and Gentleman in Black, 1633, Oil on canvas , 131.6 x 109 cm.
The FBI said in 2015 that they knew the identity of the thieves and that the two suspects were now dead.
“The FBI believes with a high degree of confidence that in the years after the theft, the art was transported to Connecticut and the Philadelphia region, and some of the art was taken to Philadelphia, where it was offered for sale by those responsible for the theft.”
“With that same confidence, we have identified the thieves, who are members of a criminal organization with a base in the Mid-Atlantic states and New England.”
Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office
After the attempted sale, which took place about 2003, the FBI’s knowledge of the art’s whereabouts is limited.
Immunity offered for return of stolen paintings
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will consider the possibility of immunity from criminal prosecution for information that leads to the return of the paintings based on the set of facts and circumstances brought to our attention. Our primary goal is, and always has been, to have the paintings returned.”
said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz
Robbery of priceless works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2 Palace Road, Boston, Massachusetts, March 18, 1990.
The unknown subjects gained entrance into the museum by advising on-duty security personnel that they were responding to a call of a disturbance within the compound. Security, contrary to museum regulations, allowed the unknown subjects into the facility.
Upon gaining entry, the two unknown subjects abducted the on duty security personnel, securing both guards with duct tape and handcuffs in separate remote areas of the museum’s basement.
The unknown subjects brandished no weapons, nor were any weapons seen during this heist.
Other than a “panic” button located behind the guards’ watch desk area, the museum alarm system was internally only. Since the panic button was not activated, no actual police notification was made during the robbery. The video surveillance film was seized by the unknown subjects prior to their departure.
While in the museum from 1:24 a.m. to 2:45 a.m., 81 minutes, the unknown subjects seized the following works of art, the values of which have been estimated as high as 300 million dollars (1990 prices)
DUTCH ROOM GALLERY
- VERMEER, THE CONCERT; Oil on canvas, 72.5 x 64.7 cm.
- REMBRANDT, A LADY AND GENTLEMAN IN BLACK; Oil on canvas, 131.6 x 109 cm. Inscribed at the foot, REMBRANDT. FT: 1633.
- REMBRANDT, THE STORM ON THE SEA OF GALILEE; Oil on canvas, 161.7 x 129.8. cm. Inscribed on the rudder, REMBRANDT. FT: 1633
- REMBRANDT, SELF PORTRAIT; Etching, 1 3/4″ x 2″, (Postage Stamp size)
- GOVAERT FLINCK, LANDSCAPE WITH AN OBELISK; Oil on an oak panel, 54.5 x 71 cm. Inscribed faintly at the foot on the right; R. 16.8 (until recently this was attributed to Rembrandt).
- CHINESE BRONZE BEAKER OR “KU”, Chinese, SHANG DYNASTY, 1200-1100 BC; height of 10 “, diameter of 6 1/8”, with a weight of 2 pounds, 7 ounces.
SHORT GALLERY
- DEGAS, LA SORTIE DU PELAGE; pencil and water color on paper, 10 x 16 cm.
- DEGAS, CORTEGE AUX ENVIRONS DE FLORENCE; pencil and wash on paper, 16 x 21 cm. (This and the above were originally in a single frame.)
- DEGAS, THREE MOUNTED JOCKEYS; Black ink, white, flesh and rose washes, probably oil pigments, applied with a brush on medium brown paper, 30.5 x 24 cm.
- DEGAS, PROGRAM FOR AN ARTISTIC SOIREE; Charcoal on white paper, 24.1 x 30.9 cm.
- DEGAS, PROGRAM FOR AN ARTISTIC SOIREE; a less finished version of the above, charcoal on buff paper, 23.4 x 30 cm. (This and the above were originally in a single frame.)
BLUE ROOM GALLERY
- MANET, CHEZ TORTONI; Oil on canvas, 26 x 34 cm
Unknown Subjects described as follows on 18 March 1990
| Suspect Number One | Suspect Number Two | |
| Race: | White | White |
| Sex: | Male | Male |
| Age: | Late 20’s to mid 30’s | Early to mid 30’s |
| Height: | 5’7″ to 5’10” | 6’0″ to 6’1″ |
| Weight: | Unknown | 180 to 200 pounds |
| Build: | Medium | Fairly broad shoulders, lanky from the waist down |
| Eyes: | Dark | Dark |
| Hair: | Black, short cropped | Black, medium length, puffy with additional length in back, rounded off just over the collar |
| Complexion: | Fair to medium | Fair to medium |
| Facial Structure: | Narrow | Round |
| Facial Hair: | Wearing a dark, shiny mustache, appearing to be false | Black shiny mustache appearing to be false |
| Glasses: | Wearing square-shaped, gold framed glasses | None |
| Clothing: | Fully ornamented dark blue police uniform and hat, and dark shoes, with patch on left shoulder, possibly with wording “Boston Police.” | Same as Unknown Subject Number One |
| Equipment: | Carrying a square black radio (with 5″ to 6″ antenna) on belt | Same as Unknown Subject Number One |
| Accent: | Possibly Boston |
Until the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist, the world’s biggest reported art theft was a 1989 robbery of three Van Gogh paintings worth an estimated $72 million and a 1988 theft in Amsterdam of three other Van Goghs and two other works with an estimated $52 million (1990 prices quoted).
All logical leads have been followed through to conclusion with no positive investigative results. Numerous interviews have been conducted, many accompanied by polygraph examination, with no substantial positive information developed.
All forensic evidence recovered by the Boston Police Department and the F.B.I. from the crime scene has been submitted to the F.B.I. Laboratory Division for analysis and storage.
To recover stolen items and prosecute art and cultural property crime, the FBI has a specialized Art Crime Team of 14 special agents supported by special trial attorneys.
The team investigates theft, fraud, looting, and trafficking across state and international lines, with estimated losses running as high as $6 billion annually.
The FBI also runs the National Stolen Art File, a computerized index of stolen art and cultural properties that is used as a reference by law enforcement agencies worldwide.
May 15, 2018 – A Beckley, W.Va., man was sentenced in federal court in Boston in connection with a scheme in which he purported to sell paintings stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990, on Craigslist.
Todd Andrew Desper, a/k/a “Mordokwan,” 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to time served and three years of supervised release, three months of which is to be served in home confinement. In February 2018, Desper pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and attempted wire fraud. In May 2017, Desper was arrested in West Virginia and charged in a criminal complaint.
Desper, acting under the pseudonym “Mordokwan,” solicited foreign buyers on Craigslist for both the Rembrandt’s Storm on the Sea of Galilee and Vermeer’s The Concert, two paintings that were stolen from the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum in 1990. Desper directed interested buyers to create an encrypted email account to communicate with him. Authorities were notified of the foreign Craigslist notices by individuals seeking to assist in the recovery of the artwork, as well as those seeking the multi-million dollar reward offered by the Museum.
Desper instructed the security director to send a cashier’s check for $5 million to a location in West Virginia and that the Storm on the Sea of Galilee would then be sent in return, concealed behind another painting. The investigation ultimately revealed that Desper had no access to, nor information about, the stolen paintings, but was instead engaged in a multi-million dollar fraud scheme targeting foreign art buyers.
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