FBI Releases Never-Before-Seen Gardner Museum Art Heist Video

Federal law enforcements officials released a surveillance video never before seen by the public in hopes of solving the 25-year-old, $500 million-dollar art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

Officials released the new footage on Friday in seeking the public’s assistance in identifying an unauthorized visitor to the museum the night before the notorious theft.

Friday Update: FBI Says Suspects in Notorious Gardner Museum Art Heist Are Dead

That person entered the museum through the same door as the thieves in the middle of the night, 24 hours before the theft.

“Over many months we have engaged in an exhaustive re-examination of the original evidence in this case. Our aim has been to ensure that all avenues have been explored in the continuing quest to recover these artworks,” said United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz in a statement. “Today we are releasing video images from the night before the theft — images which have not previously been seen by the public — with the hope of identifying an unauthorized visitor to the museum. With the public’s help, we may be able to develop new information that could lead to the recovery of these invaluable works of art.”

The video footage, captured by the museum’s security cameras 24 hours before the Gardner heist, shows an automobile pull up next to a rear entrance of the museum. The car matches the general description of a vehicle that was reported to have been parked outside the museum moments prior to the theft on March 18, 1990, according to authorities.

Video: Gardner Museum Surveillance 1990

The video also shows an unidentified man exiting the automobile and then being allowed inside the museum, against museum policy, by a security guard. That event occurred at 12:49 a.m. on March 17, 1990, almost exactly 24 hours before the thieves entered the museum through the same door.

While the images of both the vehicle and the unidentified man are low resolution, law enforcement officials hope that releasing the footage will assist with identifying the man or the vehicle in the video.

Anyone with information regarding the video should call the FBI at 617-742-5533 or the Isabella Gardner Museum at 617-278-5114.

A $5 million reward has been offered by the museum for information that leads directly to the recovery of all of the stolen items in good condition. The recovery of an individual object will result in a portion of the reward, based upon the object’s market value relative to the other stolen objects.

Here is an account of the burglary:

In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, two white men dressed in Boston Police uniforms entered the Gardner Museum by advising the security guard at the watch desk that they were responding to a report of a disturbance within the compound. Against museum policy, the guard allowed the thieves in. The two thieves subdued the security guards, handcuffed them, and put them in the museum’s basement. The suspects did not show weapons during the heist. No panic button was activated and no Boston Police notification was made during the robbery. The thieves seized the video surveillance film from the evening of the robbery.

They did not take the video footage from the night before.

The combined value of the 13 works of art stolen during the Gardner theft is at least $500 million, though they are considered priceless within the art community.

The following objects were stolen during the burglary and have been missing for the past 25 years:

1) Vermeer’s “The Concert”

2) Rembrandt’s “A Lady and Gentleman in Black”

3) Rembrandt’s “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee”

4) Rembrandt’s “Self Portrait”

5) Govaert Flinck’s “Landscape with an Obelisk”

6) A Shang Dynasty Chinese Bronze Beaker from 1200-1100 BC

7) Degas’s “La Sortie du Pelage”

8) Degas’s “Cortege Aux Environs de Florence”

9) Degas’s “Three Mounted Jockeys”

10) Degas’s “Program for an Artistic Soiree” charcoal on white paper

11) Degas’s “Program for an Artistic Soiree” less finished charcoal on buff paper

12) Manet’s “Chez Tortoni”

13) Napoleonic Eagle Finial

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