The stories of stolen famous paintings continue to fascinate us as much as the artworks themselves. Have you ever wondered where those paintings might have gone and how they were stolen? Will they be found eventually? Why is Picasso the artist with the highest number of stolen paintings of all time? What is the most valuable painting ever stolen? Here’s a list of some spectacularly stolen masterpieces that are yet to be recovered!
Rembrandt Van Rijn “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee”
The painting "Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee" is the only seascape Rembrandt is known to have painted in his long career. Painted in 1633, the large-scale oil painting shows Christ together with his disciples on a fishing boat. Caught in a heavy storm on the Sea of Galilee and its towering waves, they try to bring the boat back under their control to save their lives. Christ, who can be seen on the rear of the boat, is the only point of tranquility in this dramatically lit composition.
This one of the most famous paintings of ships at sea was in the collection of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston until 1990 when it was snatched along with twelve stolen paintings by other famous masters. This theft of paintings, drawings, and decorative art with an estimated value of hundreds of millions of dollars is considered the largest art heist in US history.
Until today, the identity of the two robbers, who gained access to the museum disguised as policemen and pretending to attend to a disturbance call, remains unknown. None of the stolen artworks have been found.
Johannes Vermeer “The Concert”
Johannes Vermeer’s "The Concert'', painted around 1664, was stolen together with Rembrandt’s ‘Storm on the Sea of Galilee’ from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. Until today it is considered the most valuable stolen artwork in history and has many oil painting reproductions. The painting shows an intimate glance into the bourgeois interior of the Dutch Golden Age.
Vermeer captured three musicians playing different instruments in a beautifully lit room. The combination of the tranquility and serene beauty of the composition with its naturalistically captured details make this one of Vermeer’s outstanding masterpieces. The museum has offered $10 Million for any hints that lead to the recovery of the stolen artwork.
Raphael's “Portrait of a Young Man”
‘Portrait of a Young Man’ is one of the most famous portrait paintings created around 1513 by Renaissance master, Raphael. This captivating painting shows a young man in a three-quarter profile, dressed elegantly in a white cotton shirt and a felt or fur cape. He is wearing a black beret on his long, curly brown hair. In scholarship, it was considered a self-portrait of Raphael.
Originally, this painting belonged to the Polish Royal Collection, which is on display in the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, Poland. With the breakout of World War II and the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Prince Augustyn Józef Czartoryski saved several masterpieces of the collection from the looting Nazi troops and hid them in one of his residences. But this hiding spot did not prove to be safe enough: the painting, alongside other treasures, was found by the Gestapo, the German secret police, who was working for Hans Frank, Head of the General Government in occupied Poland.
‘Portrait of a Young Man’ initially decorated Frank’s sumptuous residence in Kraków before it was sent to Germany to become a part of the collection that was to form the ‘Führermuseum’ in Linz, showing Hitler’s art collection for which he was looting from all over Europe. However, at the beginning of 1945, the painting was brought back to Kraków by Frank, who displayed it for his own pleasure in the royal castle. And this is where we lose track of the painting. Even though the city was evacuated by the Germans later that year due to the advancement of the Soviet troops, Frank fled and might have taken the painting to his villa in Silesia. He was executed by the allied forces in 1946, never disclosing the whereabouts of the stolen artwork.
Hubert and Jan van Eyck: The Just Judges
In 1934 one panel, painted on both sides, was stolen from one of Europe’s greatest treasures: the Ghent Altarpiece by the Flemish painters Hubert and Jan van Eyck. On display at the Sint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, and completed in 1432, this altarpiece depicts the Last Judgment in multiple parts, the stolen artwork constituting the lower-left panel.
The thief left a note in the empty frame and started negotiations with the Belgium government over the return of the piece. After unsuccessful ransom negotiations, only the sawed-off side of the panel, showing Saint John the Baptist in black and white, was found in a locker, in an act of goodwill by the thief. The other side, which would only be shown when the altarpiece was opened on high holidays, has been lost to this day.
Only a few months after the theft, Arsène Goedertier confessed on his deathbed to his lawyer that he was one of the thieves and that he was the only one who knew about the whereabouts of the stolen artwork, and that it was hidden in a public place. Even after extensive searches, the panel has never been retrieved. In order to conserve the wholeness of the grand composition of the Ghent Altarpiece, it was replaced by a copy in 1945.
Pablo Picasso “Harlequin Head”
The production of the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso seems to be particularly popular with art thieves. More than 1,000 works by the prolific Spaniard have been reported missing or stolen. But why is Picasso top of the list of the most stolen artists of all time? It is probably a combination of high value, large artistic output, and a very recognizable signature.
Among the stolen art is his painting of "Harlequin Head", created in 1971 as part of his late work. In typical Picasso-manner, we are looking into the distorted face of a harlequin, a figure from the world of the theater and circus. This one of the most popular paintings was looted from the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam in 2012, alongside other famous stolen paintings from the avant-garde, such as Matisse, Monet, and Gauguin.
Even though the security system of the museum was considered state of the art, the two thieves managed to leave the museum with the stolen paintings before the police arrived. In 2013 alleged thieves were arrested in Romania. The mother of one of them confessed that she burnt the paintings in her fireplace to destroy any evidence of her son’s crime.
Stolen Paintings that Were Recovered
Even though history is full of unsolved cases of stolen paintings and artworks, some famous paintings were once stolen but have been recovered and continue to fascinate millions of museum visitors today. The probably most famous example of such a case is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa on display at the Louvre in Paris. Stolen in 1911 by the Italian craftsman Vincenzo Peruggia, he wanted to bring the painting ‘home’ to Italy. It was founded three years in Florence and returned to Paris with a grand State ceremony.
Two versions of Edward Munch’s "The Scream", another icon of art history, were stolen from the National Museum and the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, in 1994 and 2004, respectively. In 1994 the museum refused to pay the ransom demand, and the painting was recovered undamaged through a string operation by the Norwegian police in cooperation with its British equivalent and the Getty Museum.
In 2004, masked gunmen entered the Munch Museum and stole the ‘Scream’ and Munch’s "Madonna". Fortunately, both paintings were also found by the Norwegian police and returned to the museum, where they remain highlights of its collection.
Conclusion:
All the big names of art history have continued to attract thieves and robbers, and more masterpieces than you probably thought disappeared without a trace. The circumstances of their disappearance vary greatly — some were stolen and lost during times of war, burnt, or dumped in a container. But hopefully, some of them will be recovered and given back to the museums and churches where they belong for the enjoyment of everyone.