The Easel

Archives: The Atlantic

6th June 2015

Why Are Art Heists So Fascinating?

A good whodunit is hard to resist. In the case of the 1990 theft of Grand Masters from Boston’s Gardiner Museum, police think they know who did it but have never laid charges. Ironically, the thieves may have been too successful – the paintings were so famous they may have been unsellable. At some point, a priceless painting becomes just a piece of incriminating evidence to be got rid of.