It's not always banks and jewelers that get targeted by thieves endeavoring to steal millions worth of goods. Very often the targets are, in fact, museums and art galleries, and the thieves often have their bullseye set on specific targets. Famous paintings and expensive artworks often become their primary objective. Hence, many famous stolen paintings have fallen victim to the hands of burglars. And although some stolen paintings have been returned to their owners' hands, many's whereabouts remain a mystery.
Arguably the biggest art theft in history, dubbed the Gardner heist or the 1990 theft, in which 13 works of art were stolen, remains a mystery even 30 years later. Among the famous stolen paintings still missing are works by Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and many other masterminds who probably never imagined their artworks would ever be worth millions and sought after by federal agencies all over the world. However, the pitfall for both the investigators and the burglars is that stolen artwork is often "too famous to fence." This implies that the criminals are stuck with something they can't sell, which, to a certain degree, complicates the process of tracking down the lost paintings. However, not all hope is lost since the search for the stolen paintings has never ceased, and numerous famous paintings have already made it safely to their rightful owners.
If the history of art theft is something you want to learn more about, below, we've compiled a list of stolen paintings with some background information on how they were stolen. Other than that, we've made it clear to indicate which of the stolen paintings were recovered and which ones are still missing. As always, upvote your favorite pieces and let us know if you know any more details regarding any of the theft cases! And although we do our best to fact-check the information we provide, we would highly appreciate you letting us know if you spot any errors and inaccuracies. And now, on to investigating!
#41 Chez Tortoni By Édouard Manet
Stolen in 1990 | Still missing
One of the 13 artworks stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990 was Chez Tortoni. According to the FBI, the robbery was allegedly organized by a criminal group. Because the case lacked strong physical evidence, the national security organization relied solely on interrogations, undercover informants, and sting operations and concentrated chiefly on the Boston Mafia, which was engaged in an internal gang war at the time. The fact that the frame was not left on the gallery floor like the other frames adds to the intrigue surrounding the theft of Chez Tortoni. However, the fact that it was left on the security director's chair seems to be a very personal jab.
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#42 Les Choristes By Edgar Degas
Stolen in 2009 | Retrieved in 2018
The artwork, which had been on loan from Musée d'Orsay in Paris, was stolen from Marseille's Musée Cantini in 2009. The painting, valued at €800,000, was removed from the wall by the burglars after they allegedly simply unscrewed the frame. It was believed that a museum employee had somehow helped the thieves. A night watchman was detained, but there was no justification for keeping him, so he was shortly released. After that, the investigators had no further leads. Nine years later, in 2018, according to France's former minister of culture, Françoise Nyssen, the artwork was found in a bus's luggage compartment when none of the passengers were willing to claim the bag.
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#43 Congregation Leaving The Reformed Church In Nuenen By Vincent Van Gogh
Stolen in 2002 | Retrieved in 2016
Together with Van Gogh's early work Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather, it was stolen in December 2002. It was lost for more than 13 years before being found by the Italian police in January 2016 at Castellammare di Stabia, close to Naples, however, without its original frame. It was returned to the museum and put back on exhibit in March 2017.
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#44 Landscape With Obelisk By Govert Flinck
Stolen in 1990 | Still missing
Yet another one of the 13 artworks stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1990 is Landscape With Obelisk. This landscape, long believed to be by Rembrandt, was revealed in the 1980s to be Govaert Flinck's work. It was thought so because Rembrandt's landscapes from the 1630s are reminiscent of the threatening setting with the brilliantly lighted obelisk in the front.
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#45 Love And Pain By Edvard Munch
Stolen in 1988 | Retrieved later that year
In February 1988, a version of Love And Pain, sometimes named Vampire, was stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway. Allegedly, it was found shortly after when the thief, a former Norwegian footballer Paal Enger, contacted the police. Apparently, Paal Enger was also one of the four men convicted and sentenced in connection with the later 1994 theft, during which another painting by Munch, The Scream, was stolen.
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#46 Madeleine Leaning On Her Elbow With Flowers In Her Hair By Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Stolen in 2011 | Still missing
The painting Madeleine Leaning on Her Elbow with Flowers in Her Hair was stolen during an armed robbery in a Houston home in September 2011. The homeowner was watching TV when she heard a loud noise. An armed guy wearing a ski mask confronted her as she went to look into it. According to the FBI, the Renoir painting has been added to the FBI’s Top Ten list. For information leading to the painting’s recovery, a private insurer is offering up to $50,000.
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#47 Count Lepic And His Daughters By Edgar Degas
Stolen in 2008 | Retrieved in 2012
One of the four paintings stolen in 2008, a high-profile robbery from a private gallery in Zürich, Switzerland, was Degas' Count Lepic And His Daughters. Fortunately, the painting was recovered in April 2012, though with slight damage.
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#48 Portrait Of The Duke Of Wellington By Francisco Goya
Stolen in 1961 | Retrieved in 1965
The painting was stolen in August 1961 from the National Gallery in London by bus driver Kempton Bunton. According to the BBC, over the next four years, Bunton addressed a string of messages to the perplexed police pleading for them to hand over £140,000, first to charity and then to cover the cost of TV licenses for the elderly and underprivileged. The painting was subsequently found in a left luggage locker. Bunton was put on trial for five offenses, including stealing the painting and its frame. Eventually, Bunton was not found guilty of four counts but received a three-month prison term for stealing the picture frame.
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#49 The Love Letter By Carl Spitzweg
Stolen in 1989 | Still missing
On September 4, 1989, two men stole the painting from Berlin's Charlottenburg Palace. The Love Letter, along with Spitzweg's The Poor Poet, have disappeared since then. Allegedly, The Poor Poet was Hitler's favorite German painting.
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#50 The Conjurer By Hieronymus Bosch (Or His Workshop)
Stolen in 1978 | Retrieved two months later
According to The New York Times, The Conjurer was stolen from the museum of suburban St.‐Germain‐en‐Laye by two armed men in December 1978. Apparently, the painting somehow found its way into the hands of a detective, who held it for one night before returning it to the museum. Even though it was returned to the museum just two months after it was stolen, the painting is kept in a safe apart from sporadic loans to other museums and one annual public exhibition.
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#51 Self-Portrait By Giorgione
Stolen in 1983 | Retrieved in 2013
On November 5, 1983, unidentified assailants stormed into the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts. They stole seven precious artworks, including Giorgione's Self-Portrait. However, the so-called "Criminal Case of the Century" ultimately came to a happy conclusion when the offenders were caught, and the paintings were returned to their original locations. This and other paintings were recovered in Operation Budapest, a joint investigation between the Italian, Hungarian, and Greek police.
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