Art Heists

While I don't do Facebook or Twitter, I must share this surprising post by the Puyallup, WA Police Dept. from Monday, 16 March. I saw it on our local network news.

"Due to local cases of #COVID-19, PPD is asking all criminal activities and nefarious behavior to cease. We appreciate your anticipated cooperation in halting crime & thank all the criminals in advance. We will certainly let you know when you can resume your normal criminal behavior."

Can you imagine if it would have been that easy to stop all the art thefts over the years? Such activity is often motivated by greed or likely fueled by boredom or the challenge of breaking security measures. What I'll never understand is the senseless vandalism of art. It's difficult enough to preserve centuries-old artwork or to restore paintings that have cracked or faded naturally. Bravo to art restoration experts, curators, and investigators who recover damaged or stolen artworks!

"A Young Woman standing at a Virginal"
(1670-72), Vermeer

"Les Oliviers" (1889), Van Gogh

Personally, I am glad that there are so many Van Gogh's to see, considering his short career as a painter (age 27-36). Saw this one at the National Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2017. I'm disappointed that there aren't more of Vermeer's works. How about the paintings within the painting? It also amazes me that he had time to paint while raising 11 children!

"The Connoisseur" (1961), Norman Rockwell

This painting-within-a-painting is Norman Rockwell's nod to Abstract Expressionism and is likely patterned after the work of his fellow artist, Jackson Pollock, who died 6 years earlier and never got to see it. Personally, I think the art patron should be standing further back in order to fully appreciate the painting. It's also way too colorful to be an actual Pollock!

"San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk" (1908-12), Monet

Art heists are common themes in many Hollywood movies. Probably the most famous are the two versions of "The Thomas Crown Affair" from 1968 and 1999 in which a classic Monet painting is borrowed and a copy forged with Coolidge's 'Dogs at Cards' a.k.a. "Poker Sympathy" underneath (for the comic relief!).

The first starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway (both) and the second Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. The intrigue of the art capers was accompanied by the romantic involvement of a bored thief and a relentless investigator.







Here's a photo of the Lakhta Center taken while in St. Petersburg, Russia at around 11 PM (Yes!) when it was still light. I call it, "Twilight, Russia", after Monet's "Twilight, Venice".








1999's "Entrapment" pairs Sean Connery with Catherine Zeta-Jones in the search for the stolen Rembrandt - "Bathsheba with King David's Letter".

Grace Kelly - To Catch a Thief, by Kevin Hughes

1955's popular "To Catch a Thief" was about a cat burglar jewel thief and a romance between Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. According to one website (The Guardian), "A thief in Cannes made off with over £90m in jewels in a 2013 smash and grab at a temporary exhibition in the Carlton Hotel, where (coincidentally) Alfred Hitchcock filmed To Catch a Thief." 

The less-popular 1966 movie "How to Steal A Million", about art forgery, in particular sculpture, stars Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn.

1991's "Hudson Hawk", starring Bruce Willis and Andie MacDowell, is a violent movie about stealing works by Leonardo da Vinci from the Vatican. One of the works is a small-scale model for da Vinci’s enormous statue of the Sforza horse which was never actually completed.

"Monuments Men" is a 2014 movie about a more positive recovery of art masterpieces from Nazi thieves by a platoon of WWII soldiers.