The most famous news of the theft of this year's artwork is probably the theft of the world-renowned artist Van Gogh's birthday on March 30, when his "The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring" was stolen.
"The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring"
Speaking of Van Gogh, everyone is no stranger, he started his artistic career at the age of 27, shot himself at the age of 37, and left a lot of rare art treasures in 10 years. But when it comes to this painting, people may not really know much about it.
This work was created by Van Gogh in Nuen between April and May 1884 (the "Nuenen period" was also a very important creative stage in Van Gogh's artistic career, and many classic works were born). In a letter #444 to his brother Theo in early April, Van Gogh mentioned that he was amazed by the unique style of the quaint garden, as if it were embedded in a blur between the countryside and the city.
#444号信
In order to paint the lonely beauty of this garden, van Gogh created at least a dozen sketches from March of that year, of which at least three have been preserved.
To say that stealing works of famous artists, our first reaction is that this must be a "Jiangyang thief" who has studied art (stealing works on the artist's birthday, to say that it is a coincidence, I really don't believe it), what destroys the power supply and monitoring, bypasses patrol personnel, infrared and the like, after all, this is how it is played in movies.
Stills from the movie "The Stolen Leonardo da Vinci"
But the thieves' methods of stealing are a bit shoddy - just smash the glass and then take the painting away in a loud siren (can you respect the security system!). ）......
Perhaps, this is what is called, the great "theft" to Jane
According to statistics, nearly 7 billion worth of art is stolen around the world every year, and we will take a look at the stories of those worth thousands of dollars but fateful works of art on the way to being stolen.
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<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > "take-out Rembrandt"</h1>
The famous artist Rembrandt's work "Jacob III" has a "nickname" called "Take Rembrandt", and also carries the legend that "no matter how many times it is stolen, it will come back anyway"...
Why? Because it was stolen 4 times between 1966 and 1983, it even set a world record for "the most stolen painting in the world"!
There is also a saying that Rembrandt's paintings deeply touched people without artistic backgrounds, including most criminals, even if they are not in the way, as long as they steal his paintings, their reputation in prison will immediately escalate, and they will be respected by their fellow prisoners as "Rembrandt"!
Let's relive the experience of each time this work was stolen:
First theft:
On 31 December 1966, several thieves used a drill and hand-cranked drill to pry open a panel on a door not commonly used in London's Dovits Gallery and took away a large number of paintings, including Rembrandt's Jacob III, The Girl by the Window, Portrait of Titus, as well as Rubens' Three Goddesses of Beauty, St. Barbara, Three Goddesses with Fertile Horns, as well as Eight works, "The Lady Who Played the Harpsichord" and "Elder Suzanne," worth a total of $7 million.
Later, the police judged the size of the thief based on the size of the intrusion port, and then followed the ruts left by the rain to find the stolen car a few miles away from the museum, and recovered 8 paintings in 4 days.
Second theft:
In 1973, a 24-year-old unemployed young man, Norman Rutter, was so touched by the painting that he wanted to take it back to his home so that he could draw it (also a "good" young man who loved art). So he took the painting off in broad daylight, put it in a plastic bag, and took it out of the museum.
However, a few minutes later, he was arrested by the police.
Third theft:
The third time: In 1981, this theft was finally a bit "gold-rich": a gang of British and European thieves committed a crime, division of labor and cooperation and reception - in fact, the two entered the Dovits Gallery normally, one went to talk enthusiastically with the guards, and the other removed "Jacob III" from the frame and put it in his pocket.
Probably because the popularity of the work rose sharply due to the first two thefts, no one dared to collect it, and 11 days later the burglar contacted the Dovits Gallery to extort 100,000 pounds. Unable to come up with the money, the gallery turned to the police, who caught 4 suspects in a taxi in London's Berkeley Square and recovered Jacob III.
Fourth theft:
Fourth time: As the saying goes, a painting was stolen 3 times in the same place, and the exhibition hall leaders should have a long snack - they simply bought an alarm device at a high price and hired a night guard.
But, "the emperor pays off", and even under such multiple protections, Jacob III is still missing: in May 1983, the burglar used a three-story ladder to climb to the roof of the Dovits Gallery under the cover of night and forcibly open the skylight on the top of the Portrait Gallery. Although the security and law enforcement officers arrived at the scene in 3 minutes this time, this work was stolen for the fourth time...
Again and again, again and again, three is not exhausted, Xiaobian feels that the fourth wave of thieves may just want to challenge themselves and the security system. The thief is not exhausted, and the gallery has become desperate enough to give up: they publish a newspaper announcement begging the thief not to damage the painting, not to leave the painting too cold, not to walk while holding the painting, etc...
Rembrandt's Jacob III
It's okay if you want him and take him away, but please be sure to protect the baby that once belonged to "me". It is also possible that this competent and sincere love touched God, and 3 years later, Jacob III was discovered in Germany and returned to the gallery in its entirety.
Of course, the many-stolen Dovits Gallery was anxious, saddled with the nickname "Dovits Stupid", and even considered putting away Jacob III and replacing it with a photo, but the curator gave up after careful consideration:
I think that everyone who wants to see this painting has already seen it, and everyone who wants to steal it has already stolen it.
Speaking of which, it is really a bit painful "Jacob III", this "man" has been stolen 4 times, which shows that the charm is not ordinary...
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< h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > why can "Mona Lisa" debut in the C position? </h1>
"Mona Lisa" is one of the treasures of the Louvre, a masterpiece known to people all over the world, and even become the reason why most people come to the Louvre, an absolute punch card holy place. Not far away, another masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, The Virgin of the Rocks, is snubbed.
The "Mona Lisa", who debuted in many of Leonardo da Vinci's works, was not because she could sing and rap, but because she had experienced a bizarre theft.
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa
It is said that on August 22, 1911, when the French painter Louis Beroux came to the four-square hall of the Louvre as usual, and set up his easel to copy the Mona Lisa, he found that only four iron nails were left on the wall. He went to the guard to report the situation, but the guard thought that the photographer had finished taking the picture and forgot to send the painting back to the original place, which did not attract any attention at all.
However, at noon, the Mona Lisa was still completely unheard, and under Belu's repeated urging, the guard had to ask the photographer, but the photographer said that he had never seen the painting at all. After a search, I finally found an empty picture frame under the maintenance staircase...
astound! "Mona Lisa" actually lost?!
At this time, the Western news was deregulated, many new tabloids occupied the market, and the press took the opportunity to coax gossip and convey the news of the theft of the Mona Lisa to every corner of society in a sensational way.
After that, the report of the theft of the Mona Lisa became the front page headline of all the media in the world, from Paris to New York, from London to Berlin, there was such a scale of publicity around the world, "Mona Lisa" was hyped up...
Newspaper depicts the theft of the Mona Lisa
Under the supervision pressure of public opinion, the Louvre and the police still have to invest the greatest energy to find the whereabouts of this "C-bit big man" even in the case of many bottlenecks, but 2 years are still unresolved.
In November 1913, Frido Jetty, an art dealer in Florence, Italy, suddenly contacted the Louvre, saying that he had received an anonymous letter from Paris a few days earlier, saying that he had the real Mona Lisa in his possession and could sell it cheaply.
The anonymous man was the thief who had been at large for two years, Italian Vincento Perugia, who had been listed as one of the suspects. His "three-step" modus operandi is surprisingly simple:
Illustration of thieves and theft
It is reported that Vincenzo confessed his motivation to take back the cultural heritage plundered by foreign tribes for his native Italy, so that when he returned home after his release from prison, he received tens of thousands of people at the airport...
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<h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > Scream: Ah! Can you spare me</h1>
Edward Munch is a well-known artist, and his "Scream" as a masterpiece is also one of the most frequent works that appear in front of everyone's eyes.
Munch's 4 versions of The Scream
People are afraid of being famous pigs are afraid of being strong, and the more famous the artwork, the more valuable it is, so "Scream" has not escaped the fate of being targeted by thieves. Even in the "History of Famous Painting Theft", he won the title of runner-up (the champion is above).
In February 1994, at the opening of the Lillehammer Winter Olympics, the Norwegian National Gallery moved Scream to another gallery for display.
However, perhaps too eager to show the famous painting to the world, forgetting to strengthen its security measures, 4 robbers set up a ladder in broad daylight, smashed the glass of the exhibition hall (the same as the recent theft of Van Gogh's paintings), and took only 60 seconds to transport the famous painting away, leaving a note with the words "Thanks for the simple security work" to mock...
Fortunately, 2 months later, under the tracking of many parties, this world-famous painting was found.
However, there is always a "but" in everything! In August 2004, Scream was stolen again!
A group of masked gunmen entered the Munch Museum in Oslo and, in full view of everyone, threatened the caretaker with a gun, stole two famous paintings, "The Scream" and "Madonna", and then drove away in a black "Audi" car. To be honest, this nature is more appropriate to say that it is better to grab ...
Eduard Munch's Virgin Mary
One witness said:
The paintings were just hung on the wall with ropes. As long as you pull hard, the rope is broken, and the painting can be taken away. That's what these robbers did.
A year later, the police caught the thieves, but the thieves claimed to have burned the two paintings in order to destroy the evidence. The Oslo city government offered a reward of 2 million crowns (about 1.52 million yuan) to find out the whereabouts of the two paintings, but fortunately, on August 31, 2006, after a painstaking search by the Norwegian police, the two famous paintings reappeared.
However, it was heard that because the more well-known the artwork, the more difficult it was to sell, so the Norwegian undercover police detectives negotiated with the thieves on the street and eventually redeemed it for $750,000.
Nowadays, no matter which version of "Scream" has almost become a symbol of anxiety and depression for modern people, but after knowing its theft experience, Xiaobian feels that it is shouting:
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< h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > thief: I couldn't sell "Van Gogh", and in the end I carried everything</h1>
To say that Van Gogh's works were stolen is not to say that they have been stolen twice.
In December 2003, two thieves infiltrated the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, by climbing over the wall and climbing the roof, and stole two of Van Gogh's famous paintings, "Scheveningen Beach" and "Leaving the Church in Niernen", for a total price of 80 million pounds (about 700 million yuan).
Van Gogh's "Scheveningen Beach"
Van Gogh's Departure from the Church of Niernen
The thieves easily stole two paintings with a long rope and a ladder, a process that took less than 4 minutes. Surveillance shows thieves climbing up the roof, then sliding down the rope to the ground, and then stealing Van Gogh's masterpiece...
However, the thief Octave and his accomplice Henk were not happy after they succeeded, because Van Gogh was too famous to sell the famous paintings through normal channels, and later they could only sell two famous paintings at a low price through illegal channels.
Fortunately, after more than a decade of investigation and tracking, the two masterpieces were finally found in Naples, Italy, and returned to the Van Gogh Museum.
The leader smiled and blossomed next to the work found...
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<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > how much is known about the stolen artwork, and who knows the target of the thief? </h1>
On 10 February 2008, four paintings, including the famous painter Paul Cézanne's The Boy in the Red Vest, Edgar Dega's Ludovik Lepick and His Daughter, Vincent Van Gogh's The Blooming Chestnut Branches, and Claude Monet's The Poppy Field in Vetney, were stolen from the Bourler Collection in Zurich, Switzerland.
Paul Cézanne: A boy in a red vest
Edgar Degas: Ludovic Lepic and his daughter
Van Gogh: Chestnut branches that are blooming
Claude Monet: Poppy fields in Wittney
In 2010, at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, France, thieves disappeared into the night with five famous paintings. Artist Picasso's "Dove and Green Bean", Henri Matisse's "Pastoral", Armedio Modigliani's "Woman with a Fan", George Braque's "Olive Tree Near Estaque" and Léger's "Still Life and Chandelier" are estimated by experts at more than 100 million US dollars.
The case has been called the "great case of the century" in the art world, and the thieves who made this "century case" simply broke the windows, pried off the locks, and then got their hands on it. It is said that the alarm system in the museum was broken for two months at that time, and there were media reports that 3 security guards were dozing off...
Modigliani, The Woman with the Fan
Picasso: Pigeons and green beans
Henry Matisse: Pastoral
George Braque: Olive tree near Estaq
Léger: Still life and chandelier
In 2009, the American journalist Edward Dominic edited the book "Famous Paintings Will Always Be Stolen", which almost became a sub-history of art history.
Finally: which work do you want to "steal" and why?
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