Unveiling the Untold Secrets of the Greatest Art Theft in History

Most art galleries and museums are well-known for the artwork they display. London’s National Gallery showcases Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”, while The Museum of Modern Art in New York houses “The Starry Night” along with works by Salvador Dalì, Andy Warhol, and Frida Kahlo.

On the other hand, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston has gained fame for the artwork it is missing, or rather, no longer has.

On March 18, 1990, the museum experienced the largest art heist in history. Thirteen valuable works of art, including pieces by Rembrandt and Vermeer, were stolen, totaling over half a billion dollars in worth. The theft took place in the middle of the night while the museum's security guards were tied up in the basement with duct tape.

A new episode of CNN's "How It Really Happened" will air on Sunday, May 19, at 9 PM ET/PT. The episode will include an interview with one of the security guards from that fateful night, Rick Abath. Abath gave his only television interview to CNN in 2013. Sadly, he passed away in February 2024 at the age of 57.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is full of intriguing facts and captivating plot twists. Let's explore five reasons why this museum and its notorious robbery are so fascinating.

First up, let's uncover the story of the woman who founded the museum.

Isabella Stewart Gardner, the museum's founder and namesake, was a captivating individual. She was the daughter and later the widow of two prosperous businessmen. Gardner, a generous philanthropist and art enthusiast, established the museum to showcase her extensive collection.

Philanthropist and early women's rights activist Isabella Stewart Gardner built the free-to-enter museum in Boston to house her personal art collection.

Philanthropist and early women's rights activist Isabella Stewart Gardner created a museum in Boston. The museum is open to the public and was built to display her personal art collection.

Courtesy of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

Stephan Kurkjian, author of “Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World’s Greatest Art Heist”, shared on CNN that when Isabella Stewart Gardner opened her museum in 1903, she made it free of charge. This decision was to ensure that everyone in Boston could appreciate and attend the museum. At that time, her museum had the largest collection of art by a private individual in America.

In addition to her contributions to the art world, Gardner also had connections to the early women's rights movement. The museum showcases photographs and letters from her friend Julia Ward Howe, who organized two US suffrage societies. There is also a print of Ethel Smyth, a composer and close associate of English Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst.

BOSTON - MARCH 13: An empty frame with the wallpaper showing through, where Rembrandt's "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee," circa 1633, once was. The anniversary of a major art heist is coming up. (Photo by David L Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

An empty frame with the wallpaper peeking through, once holding Rembrandt's "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee" from 1633. The anniversary of a significant art theft is approaching.

David L Ryan/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

Related article

Five of the most daring museum heists in modern history

Gardner became acquainted with Smyth thanks to their shared friend, the artist John Singer Sargent. Sargent's portrait of Gardner caused a stir due to the revealing neckline he depicted her with.

Gardner had a knack for stirring up scandal and gossip. For instance, she once made a grand entrance at a Boston Symphony Orchestra performance wearing a hat band proudly displaying the name of her favorite baseball team, the Red Sox. Additionally, an illustration in a January 1897 edition of the Boston Globe depicted her seemingly taking a stroll with one of Boston Zoo's lions.

In a somewhat ironic turn of events, when the Mona Lisa was famously stolen in 1911, Gardner instructed her museum guards to shoot to kill if they ever caught someone attempting to rob them.

The thieves who stole art from the museum got away with items worth more than $500 million. Surprisingly, they decided to leave behind the most valuable piece in the building: "The Rape of Europa" by Titian. Isabella Stewart Gardner purchased this painting in 1896 from a London art gallery, setting a new price record for an old master artwork.

"The Rape of Europa," located in the Titian Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, is considered to be the museum's most precious artwork. Unfortunately, it was left behind by thieves.

"The Rape of Europa," housed in the Titian Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, is thought to be the museum's most valuable work, yet it was left behind by theives.

Sean Dungan/Courtesy Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

One possible reason for why the priciest piece wasn't taken during history's biggest art heist could be due to size. The Rembrandt painting "Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee," known for being his only seascape, is about 5x4 feet. In comparison, "The Rape of Europa" is even larger, measuring almost 6x7 feet.

The Napoleon factor

In 2005, the search for stolen artworks led investigators to Corsica, a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. Two Frenchmen, suspected of having connections to the Corsican mob, were attempting to sell a Rembrandt and a Vermeer painting. Bob Wittman, a former FBI Special Agent, participated in a sting operation to purchase the paintings. However, the plan unraveled when the men were arrested for selling art stolen from the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nice instead.

Measuring 5x4 feet, Rembrandt's "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee" was the largest picture stolen during the heist.

Measuring 5x4 feet, Rembrandt's "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee" was the largest picture stolen during the heist.

Could it be that the "Corsican mobsters," as mentioned by CNN correspondent Randi Kaye, had a motive for robbing a Boston art museum? One theory points to the Bronze Eagle Finial, a 10-inch ornament taken from the top of a Napoleonic flag during the heist.

"It was a strange decision for the thieves to steal the Finial," Kaye mentioned. Corsica is known as the birthplace of Napoleon, the French emperor who was born on the island in 1769. Today, his former family home has been turned into a national museum.

This recent handout photograph obtained courtesy of Arthur Brand shows Dutch art detective Arthur Brand, dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the Art World", posing next to six paintings he has recovered, including a portrait of William of Orange and the first depiction of a seventh-century king. Art sleuth Arthur Brand made headlines around the world last month when he recovered a stolen Van Gogh stuffed in an Ikea bag, and he believes that widely publicised success is leading to more discoveries. (Photo by courtesy of Arthur Brand / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Arthur Brand " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by -/courtesy of Arthur Brand/AFP via Getty Images)

Dutch art detective Arthur Brand, known as the "Indiana Jones of the Art World," is pictured standing proudly next to six paintings he successfully recovered. Among the paintings is a portrait of William of Orange and the first depiction of a seventh-century king. Brand gained global attention last month for finding a stolen Van Gogh painting hidden in an Ikea bag. He credits this high-profile success for leading to more discoveries in his field. (Photo by courtesy of Arthur Brand / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Arthur Brand " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by -/courtesy of Arthur Brand/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article

Stolen paintings returned in another victory for ‘the Indiana Jones’ of the art world

Kelly Horan, Deputy Editor of the Boston Globe, found the idea of a Corsican gang attempting to retrieve their flag during a heist to be quite intriguing. She mentioned this during the program.

The suspect in question had a rock'n'roll vibe to them.

March 18, 1990 was not the first time a Rembrandt was stolen from a Boston museum. Back in 1975, a career criminal and art thief named Myles Connor managed to sneak a Rembrandt out of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts by hiding it in his coat pocket. Despite being the FBI's initial suspect in the Gardner case, Connor had a solid alibi as he was already serving time in federal prison for drug charges.

Convicted art theif Myles Connor was initially suspected of the Gardner heist, a theory which was discounted when detectives realized he was already in jail on drugs offences at the time.

Myles Connor, a convicted art thief, was first thought to be involved in the Gardner heist. However, this theory was quickly dismissed when detectives discovered that he was actually serving time in jail for drug offenses during the time of the heist.

Photo credit: George Rizer/Boston Globe/Getty Images

Connor had a passion for music when he wasn't busy stealing famous artworks. Through his music gigs, he crossed paths with Al Dotoli, a well-known figure in the music industry who had worked with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Liza Minelli.

In 1976, Connor found himself behind bars for a different art theft he had committed in Maine. In a bid to reduce his sentence, he planned to use a stolen Rembrandt painting as leverage. To carry out this plan, he needed the help of Dotoli, who was currently on tour with Dionne Warwick, to turn in the painting to the authorities on his behalf.

Have you heard about an invisible thief? Recently, a valuable artwork by Édouard Manet called "Chez Tortoni" was stolen from the museum's Blue Room on the first floor. What makes this painting unique is its frame. Surprisingly, the thieves took the painting but left behind most of the frames, even cutting some out from the front.

“To even leave remnants of the painting(s) behind was savage,” Horan said. “In my mind, it’s sort of like slashing someone’s throat.”

The empty frame that used to house Manet's "Chez Tortoni" portrait was initially left on the chair of the downstairs security office — a fact which puzzled detectives.

The empty frame that once held Manet's "Chez Tortoni" portrait was found on a chair in the downstairs security office, leaving detectives puzzled.

The frame from "Chez Tortoni" was found in an unexpected place - not in the room it was taken from, but on a chair in the security office downstairs. Surprisingly, none of the motion detectors in the Blue Room were triggered. This led investigators to consider the possibility of the theft being an inside job, or even the work of ghost robbers.

According to Wittman from the FBI, around 89% of museum heists are carried out by someone on the inside. This is often how valuable items end up being stolen.

How It Really Happened’s “Gardner Art Heist: Stealing Beauty” premieres on CNN Sunday 19 May, at 9pm ET/PT.

Editor's P/S:

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's notorious art heist remains a captivating mystery, leaving us with a sense of intrigue and disbelief. The stolen artworks, valued at over half a billion dollars, continue to be sought after, while the circumstances surrounding their disappearance fuel speculation and theories. It's astonishing to think that such a brazen theft could occur, leaving behind empty frames and unanswered questions.

The museum's founder, Isabella Stewart Gardner, emerges as a fascinating figure, an art enthusiast and philanthropist who made her museum accessible to all. Her connections to the early women's rights movement and her unconventional lifestyle add layers of complexity to her character. The fact that she instructed her guards to shoot to kill in the event of a robbery adds an element of irony to the museum's history. The stolen artworks, including Rembrandt's "Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee" and Vermeer's "The Concert," represent a significant loss to the art world. The possibility that the Corsican mob may have been involved due to the theft of the Napoleonic flag ornament adds a tantalizing twist to the case. The ongoing search for the stolen treasures and the unsolved questions surrounding the heist continue to captivate our imagination, making the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum a symbol of both beauty and mystery.