Gardner Museum Heist

The Gardner Museum Heist is one of the most infamous art heist ever. In 1990 a group of masked robbers stole 13 pieces of work worth around 500 million dollars in total. The robbers stole only 13 pieces of art but left some of the most expensive pieces in the museum. Out of the 13 they took, however, 5 of them were paintings by Degas and one was a Manet. The most valuable piece stolen was a Vermeer. There are only 34 known paintings by Vermeer in the world, so this was especially valuable.

 
The Concert by Vermeer



La Sortie de Pesage by Degas



Chez Tortoni by Manet

The robbers are still yet to be found to this day. The museum was offering 10 million dollars for their return, but this offer expired on December 31, 2017. However, Arthur Brand, an expert on stolen art pieces, believes he will return the stolen pieces within a year. Brand has previously recovered over 25 million dollars worth of stolen art already. He believes that small criminals stole the pieces then sold them to the mafia who sold them to high ranking Irish Republican Army Commanders.