23 Years In The Making

I got so very excited yesterday when I heard the news.

After 23 years to the day, the FBI announced a big break in the mysterious Gardner Art Heist. The Isabella Stuart Gardner museum, robbed by two men dressed as Boston cops on a dark and drizzly night, March 18th, 1990, has remained one of the greatest mysteries and one of the biggest art heist ever. The 13 works of art, valued at $500 million dollars, are today considered to be the most valuable works of art in the world.

What the FBI has announced is this:

• They know who did it. BUT, the statute of limitations has run out.
• They know that the 13 priceless works of art were sent to Connecticut and then Pennsylvania, and then offered up for sale in Philly. 
• That an "East Coast Crime Organization" orchestrated the heist and then tried to sell them off.
• They say they do not know where the precious works are now and they are appealing to the public for information by offering a $5 million dollar reward for their safe return.

What's really exciting is that the works, once theorized to be long destroyed, are now believed to be in good condition. According to Ulrich Bosser, author of "The Gardner Heist: The True Story Of World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft"  (which I read and HIGHLY recommend)

"What’s really exciting is that the FBI says, with a high degree of confidence, that they believe that the works were offered up for sale,” Boser added. “A lot of people have speculated over the years that the works have been destroyed.”

I, for one am intrigued and waiting with baited breath for the outcome which I hope to be the precious works returned to their rightful home.

So I can go see them for myself.

These developments are exciting indeed, but remember when I told you I read the book "The Gardner Heist"?  I learned one of the reasons "crime organizations" or criminals steal valuable art other than money is for use in negotiation to mitigate punishment for other heinous crimes they committed.

Sounds to me like Whitey is singing like a bird in jail.

Diary Of An Obsession

The woman pictured here is Isabella Stuart Gardner, the famed art collector and philanthropist who housed an amazing compilation of eclectic and very important artworks in her Boston home. Her collection is considered by some to be one of the greatest private collections of art in America. Mrs. Gardner spent years amassing these works of art and transforming her Boston home into a museum which she bequeathed to the city of Boston upon her death. Born in 1840 and died in 1924, Isabella Stewart Gardner was an illustrious and notable figure in the press and the subject of much scandal and fascination. Her museum in Boston is also the place where the most notorious and unsolved art heist in the world took place.

She's just my kind of gal, and the subject of my newest obsession.

For me it all started with a simple conversation with our UPS delivery guy. We'll call him T. T and I were chit chatting one day about this new book he was reading called,"The Gardner Heist". If you live in Boston like I do, most Bostonians are fascinated with any and all things that have to do with crime, Whitey Bulger and the Gardner Museum heist. T was telling me about how speculation surrounding the famous 1990 Gardner Museum art heist, where 13 rare and precious artworks were stolen by two mysterious characters in the middle of the night, could be the handiwork of Whitey Bulger and his crew.

"I'd like to read this book when you're done," I told him. And T delivered. About a week or so later, the book was on my desk. It took me a while to pick it up and actually start reading it, but when I did I couldn't put it down. I was hooked. There are so many people in the world who are today, still trying to solve the famous and elusive Gardner Museum heist. There are people who dedicated their life's work to trying to figure it out, and those who've died trying. But this salacious tale is about so much more than crime, and recently I find myself wanting to learn more and more about Isabella Stewart Gardner and her art.

I have never been to the Gardner Museum in Boston. I read the book in late November of last year and then decided to take trip to the museum. I learned that it was closed until January 2012, when it would be reopening with a grand new wing. The grand opening is next weekend I'm looking forward to spending an entire day immersing myself in every aspect the museum has to offer. Like a true art lover, I wasn't wasn't aware of the impact this story would have on me until it was presented before me. But of the countless, precious artworks housed inside the museum, some of some of which I have viewed on the museum website and seen in the book, the ones that intrigue me the most are not the precious Vermeer or the Rembrandt that were stolen in 1990. Yes, those works are fascinating, but the ones that I am most looking forward to seeing are the portraits of Mrs. Gardner herself.

Like a book with the last pages having been ripped out, or a movie that I didn't get to finish, I feel the need to be a part of this wonderful place so I can complete the story in my head. Or somewhat complete the story, because until they find the stolen art there will always be a page missing from this script. But I'm looking forward to walking on the same floors that Isabella Stewart Gardner did close to hundred years ago, as she intended me to.