Isabella Stewart became the centre of an elite artistic circle. ibid.
Two thousand five hundred art works in all. ibid.
Among the collection was The Concert by Vermeer. ibid.
None of it was insured. ibid.
The two men appear to be wearing police uniforms. ibid.
The three Rembrandts they took were priceless. One was The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. ibid.
At 2.28 a.m. after nearly an hour of plundering the thieves returned to the security desk on the ground floor with their booty. ibid.
The thieves did not wear masks. ibid.
The thieves never ventured up to the third floor of the gallery when Titian’s Europa, the museum’s most valuable treasure, still hangs untouched. ibid.
The letter writer was never heard from again. ibid.
Nearly thirty years ago seven paintings, including a priceless Cezanne, were stolen from a private collection in America. Art of the Heist: Chasing Cezanne
Two men knocked on the door of the museum and they were dressed as policemen. There were two guards on duty who let them in, and who were then tied up. These are the most valuable pictures which have been stolen in one crime, and they haven’t been recovered. Julian Radcliffe OBE, Art Loss Register
On 18th March 1990 a pair of daring art thieves set their sights on $200 million of art in a poorly protected museum. It was the largest art robbery in American history. And one of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries. Robberies of the Century
$200M of art stolen in picture-perfect heist. Boston Herald headline
A crocked cop pulls off a bank job worth over $10 million. He committed the perfect crime and mocked authorities. Masterminds s2e11: Memorial Day Heist, History 2004
Medford, Massachusetts ... The richest bank in Medford was Depositors Trust. Its security system was state of the art. There were massive time-lock steel doors. Inside was a Safe and a thousand double-key deposit boxes. The vault seemed impregnable. But on Memorial weekend 1980 the unthinkable happened ... The largest bank burglary in New England’s history. $10 million in cash and jewels were gone ... The reinforced concrete ceiling had a hole blown in it. ibid.
They [Craig Pritchert & Nova Guthrie] hit banks across the American mid-west scoring a half million dollars and evading police at every turn. Masterminds e42: The Halloween Heist
One blue-collar Boston neighbourhood has produced more bank robbers and armoured car thieves than anywhere in the world: Charlestown. The Town 2010 starring Ben Affleck & Rebecca Hall & Pete Postlethwaite & Jon Hamm & Blake Lively & Jeremy Renner & Chris Cooper & Colm Slaine & Tirus Welliver et al, director Ben Affleck, caption
Bank robbery became like a trade in Charlestown, passed down from father to son. ibid. Federal Agent Boston Robbery Task Force
I’m proud to be from Charlestown. It ruined my life, literally, but I’m proud. ibid. Charlestown Man, Boston Globe
Hey, why don’t you let me buy you a drink ... What’s the worst that could happen? ibid. Doug to Claire
This is the last one; we hit pause after this. We get pinched remember whose idea this was OK? ibid. Doug to Jem
Claire, take this. You’ll do better with it than I can. By the time you read this I’ll be long gone. ibid. Doug’s note with money
‘Anthony Shea went into a place armed, ready to kill and took as much cash as he could grab. Then he did it again.’ Gangsters: America’s Most Evil s1e8: Anthony Shea & The No-Name Gang, Gerald Posner investigative reporter
‘Men with ski masks and sweat suits approached the truck holding weapons.’ ibid. news
‘We knew they were from Charlestown.’ ibid. rozzer
‘When you commit a third violent crime you will be put away, and put away for good. Three strikes and you are out.’ ibid. Clinton
In 1928 Anthony Shea was twenty-eight years old and one of the most successful gangsters in the eastern seaboard. ibid.
They were called the No Name Gang. All of them are from Charlestown ... They weren't the only armed robbers in Charlestown. ibid.
We’re going to your bank. You and I and my friends. My other friend will stay here with your wife and children to make sure nothing happens to them. Nothing will happen to them and nothing will happen to you if you do what I’ll tell you. The Friends of Eddie Coyle 1973 starring Robert Mitchum & Peter Boyle & Richard Jordan & Steven Keats & Alex Rocco & Joe Santos & Mitchell Ryan & Kevin O’Morrison & Marvin Licherman & Carolyn Pickman et al, director Peter Yates, home invasion
I got three kids and a wife at home. I just can’t do any more time. ibid.
We ain’t never gonna crack that baby. Never. Brink’s: The Great Robbery 1976 starring Leslie Nielson & Carl Betz & Stephen Collins & Burr DeBenning & Michael V Gazzo & Cliff Gorman & Darren McGavin & Art Metrano & Jenny O'Hara et al, director Marvin J Chomsky, gangsta
This is the autumn of 1949. In a little over three months these men and their accomplices – eleven in all – were to execute the crime of the century: the robbery at Brink’s. ibid. commentary
In June last year I got a tip-off from a reliable source promising to take me on a journey to recover painting stolen from the world’s biggest art theft, works that so far have been missing for thirty years. Thirteen works of art including three Rembrandts and a Vermeer were stolen. Their value is now estimated at around $1 billion. The Billion Dollar Art Hunt, John Wilson reporting, BBC 2020
Does a violent Irish gangsta hold the solution to a thirty-year mystery? ibid.
Boston, St Patrick’s Day 1990 when two men approach the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, the finest in Boston, just after midnight … The two thieves in Boston stayed allegedly 81 minutes to chose their pieces. ibid.
In 1922 Albert Barnes created the Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion Pennsylvania, five miles from the center of Philadelphia. The Foundation houses the most important and valuable collection of Post-Impressionist and Early Modern art in the world. Storyville: The Billion Dollar Heist ***** BBC 2011
During these negotiations Governor [Ed] Rendell promised a boost in state money to the under-funded Lincoln University. ibid.
No member of the Lincoln or Barnes Foundation boards involved in these negotiations would speak on the record. ibid.
The money to relocate the Barnes Foundation was placed in Pennsylvania’s budget before the Barnes’ Trustees announced their intention to move. The availability of state funds was never disclosed to the judge deciding the fate of the Barnes’ move. ibid.
The Immaculate Appropriation. ibid.
The Friends of the Barnes and Montgomery County did not appeal the judge’s decision. ibid.
Dr Albert C Barnes’ collection is scheduled to be removed from his Foundation and installed in the new facility by 2012. ibid.
No questions. What you don’t know can’t hurt you. The Thomas Crown Affair 1968 starring Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway & Paul Burke & Jack Weston & Gordon Pinsent & Biff McGuire & Yaphet Kotto & Addison Powell et al, director Norman Jewison
Nothing. A great big nothing. Organised. Scientific. We are Boston’s finest. We are dummies. ibid.
Golfer: You’re mad. Absolutely mad.
Steve McQueen: What else can we do on Sunday? ibid.
Is that what it all comes down to? Kicks? ibid. rozzer to rozzer
All right, Eddie. I’m immoral. So is the world. I’m here for the money, OK? ibid.
Him: Do you play?
Her: Try me. ibid.
Let’s play something else. ibid. him
Boston, Massachusetts, 18 March 1990: A baffling heist in which priceless paintings vanish into thin air … The largest property theft in American history, a museum heist in which priceless pieces of art were taken and to this day are still missing. The UnXplained with William Shatner s2e8: Outrageous Robberies, History 2022