-
Today, euro100 million ($123 million) in art was stolen from the Paris Museum of Modern Art, including a Picasso and a Matisse, making it one of the greatest heists in history.
No one was hurt. The only causalities were a window and a padlock, which were broken. Of course, the paintings were taken, but the thing is… they’re unsellable. Too recognizable, even the mention of one will have Interpol there in an instant. So what does that mean? That the thief took them for his own, or someone else’s, private collection.
Little is more fascinating, in my opinion, than art theft. There’s simply something so completely elegant about it. An almost quiet dignity in nonviolent, clockwork theft. Art thieves have - and operate by - a moral code, and are (un)usually polite and honorable, often considering their thievery an art itself. I think it’s incredible.
I have spent many a day wandering around the Gardner, and found it just as gorgeous and mysterious as ever. Despite the collection being fantastically beautifully, intriguing to a fault, and completely eclectic, there simply isn’t enough to distract from the haunting, gilded, empty frames there to pay homage towards and to serve as placeholders for the stolen pieces. And despite their purpose, those frames have become pieces of art themselves.
