The Gardner Heist : The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft
Author(s): Ulrich Boser
“Boser cracks the cold case of the art world’s greatest unsolved mystery.”— Vanity Fair
One museum, two thieves, and the Boston underworld: the riveting story of the 1990 Gardner Museum robbery, the largest unsolved art theft in history. Perfect for fans of the Netflix series This is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist!
Shortly after midnight on March 18, 1990, two men broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and committed the largest art heist in history. They stole a dozen masterpieces, including one Vermeer, three Rembrandts, and five Degas. But after thousands of leads, hundreds of interviews, and a $5 million reward, not a single painting has been recovered. Worth as much as $500 million, the missing masterpieces have become the Holy Grail of the art world and their theft one of the nation’s most extraordinary unsolved mysteries.
Art detective Harold Smith worked the theft for years, and after his death, reporter Ulrich Boser decided to pick up where he left off. Traveling deep into the art underworld, Boser explores Smith’s unfinished leads and comes across a remarkable cast of characters, including a brilliant rock ‘n’ roll art thief and a golden-boy gangster who professes his innocence in rhyming verse. A tale of art and greed, of obsession and loss, The Gardner Heist is as compelling as the stolen masterpieces themselves.
Review(s):
“Boser has produced a captivating portrait of the world’s biggest unsolved art theft.”
“A vivid portrait of the high-stakes world of art crime.”
“Ulrich Boser presents his solution to the [Gardner] mystery.”
“Boser’s book on it has the feel of a speedy ride down a mountain road spiked with hairpin turns."
“Boser has done a public service in exposing the real world of art theft: It isn’t about glamour and culture - it’s about greed, violence and irreparable, maddening loss.”
“Boser cracks the cold case of the art world’s greatest unsolved mystery.”
“Boser offers a tantalizing whodunit as he embarks on an exhaustive search for the stolen masterpieces.”
“This riveting, wonderfully vivid account takes you into the underworld of obsessed art detectives, con men, and thieves, tantalizing leads and dead ends.”
“A fascinating, well-researched investigation…[a] police-eye-view of an unsolved crime-the solution for which may be just around the corner.”
“Boser’s carefully researched and brilliantly written of the 20th century’s greatest art heist is too stunningly fascinating to miss.”
ISBN: 9780061451843