Displaying items by tag: the concert

Thievery of fine art is nothing new. One of the more infamous heists involved the 1990 theft of The Concert, a masterpiece by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, taken from a Boston museum. The most spectacular heist of a painting may still be Leonardo da Vinci’s The Mona Lisa, seized from the Louvre in 1911 and then returned two years later.

Dallas sculptor Michael Christopher Matson knows all about those stories. He just never thought it would happen to him. It did.

Matson, 42, has worked as an artist “my entire adult life.” He reveled in the fact that, last June, he was asked to showcase his trio of large sculptures outside in a show called “Steel and Light” at one of Dallas’ premier venues, Kirk Hopper Fine Art. The rust-colored pieces stood proudly 7, 8 and 9 feet tall, made for the outdoors.

23 years after the notorious Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist took place in Boston, the FBI announced that they have identified the thieves responsible for the crime. Officials stated in a press release that the unnamed suspects are from a “criminal organization” based in the Mid-Atlantic States and New England. It is believed that some of the stolen artworks were transported to the Connecticut and Philadelphia regions, where they were offered for sale.

While the works have yet to be recovered, the FBI is reaching out to the public for helpful information and a $5 million reward is being offered for the paintings’ safe return. Today at a news conference, federal law enforcement officials announced that they will launch a comprehensive public awareness campaign that will include a dedicated FBI website, video postings on FBI social media sites, digital billboards, and a podcast.

On March 18, 1990 two thieves posing as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and made off with thirteen works of art valued at $500 million. The stolen masterpieces include Johannes Vermeer’s (1632-1675) The Concert, one of only 34 known works by the artist in the world; three works by Rembrandt (1606-1669) including his only known seascape; five drawings by Edgar Degas (1834-1917); and an ancient Chinese vessel from the Shang Dynasty. The Gardner heist remains the largest private property theft ever.