The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft

by 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, True Crime, History, Crime, Mystery, Art History

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Paula K · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to write a book when nobody got caught!

This was all about a journalist who thought he would find out who really did the Gardner art theft after many professionals were unable to. There really wasn’t enough material for a book. I did walk away, however, with an interest to visit the Gardner Museum in the near future!

What is really sad is the thought that the stolen art work may have been destroyed and / or will never be recovered. Hopefully that isn’t the case.

3 out of 5 Stars

[Ulrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm the author of this book and thus ill-suited to write a review. That said, I do think the book is a good, engaging read, and reviewers have been agreeing with me.
“Boser has produced a captivating portrait of the world's biggest unsolved art theft,” noted the Wall Street Journal.

“Boser cracks the cold case of the art world’s greatest unsolved mystery,” said Vanity Fair.

And the Boston Globe noted that "In The Gardner Heist, author Ulrich Boser offers a tantalizing whodunit as he embarks on an exhaustive search for the stolen masterpieces.”

So give book a read--and tell me what you think.

[Beverly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love art and museums and work at one, but my interest in the subject could not make me like this book more. I struggled to finish it. The author made an investigation in which he did discover who probably stole the art into a much longer book than it should have been by explaining many of his false leads and trips down the rabbit hole.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having visited the Gardner a few times last year, this book really appealed to me before I even started it. The theft occurred the weekend before my 21st birthday, when I was a college student. I wish I had paid more attention to it then because it is fascinating. Last year as I stood with my 6 year old looking at the empty frames in the Dutch room, she asked quite innocently why they had been stolen, who took them and why hadn't they been found yet? If we only knew.

This book was a fascinating whodunit with a cast of characters that seemed to go on forever. I learned more than I probably wanted to know about the local underworld. I was shocked by the number of art thefts that occur in general, the lack of museum security even today and the brazenness of art thieves. Most interesting to me was the way this mystery seemed to consume people, steal their lives and hijack their dreams. It was compelling.
Unless I am mistaken, there was one fact that seemed small and was mentioned just once and that was the fact that motion detectors indicated that one of the guards was the last person in the Blue room on his nightly rounds. Had he stolen the painting from that room? I'm not sure any other explanation makes sense, yet it was a tiny blurb in the midst of many suspects and facts reviewed.
I loved this book! Highly recommend.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this, as art heists fascinate me and I'm love with Boston, but it didn't live up to my expectations. It started off excellent, but soon became boring and a little strange. It starts by discussing the heist but quickly turns into an account of the author trying to solve this unsolved crime. While some of the events are interesting, most are just accounts of interviews the author conducted that don't really lead anywhere or accounts of the author's random travels to solve the mystery. The book jacket is also misleading, as this case is still unsolved and the summary reads that the author "uncovers the identities of the men who robbed the museum." The author names two people he believes were behind the crime, but he has no real proof. Overall, I didn't hate this book, but it was not what I was expecting it to be.

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isabella Stewart Gardner was a wealthy Bostonian who spent liberally on priceless works of art. Eventually she built a museum to house them and it opened in 1904.

In 1990 two men dressed as policemen demanded to be let into the Isabelle Stewart Gardner museum. Against instructions, the security guard let the policemen in. The men lured the young man away from the panic button that would have notified police and called the other guard down. They then hog-tied the two of them with duct taped and hand-cuffed them to pipes in the cellar.

The men raided the museum, making off with a Vermeer, Rembrandt, a couple of sketches by Degas, Manet and Titan as well as some others. Although there have been a number of suspects, no one has been convicted of the theft and the art, to this date, has never been recovered.

Ulrich Boser does a thorough job tracing the crime and providing several clues as to who stole the art. He starts with biographical information of Mrs. Gardner, how she acquired her art and built the museum. He also gives a brief history of the individual pieces that were stolen.

But what makes this book as suspenseful as any spy novel, is the chase Boser engages in to track down the culprits.

Boser inherits the case from Harold Smith, a man renowned for finding lost or stolen works of art. When Smith died of cancer in 2004, Boser collected his information and took on the mantle. His investigation took him on a seamy journey through the underworld of organized crime and terrorist organizations. After four years, Boser offers his conclusions as to who he thinks stole the paintings and his argument is persuasive.

Whoever it was, we learn how and why art gets stolen in the first place and it is never because some big underworld boss, a Dr. No sort, is looking to add to his collection of stolen artworks. Mostly it is organized crime and other criminals who steal the art to use as bargaining chips to reduce a prison sentence, or to negotiate deals with other crime bosses and terrorist organizations.

Unlike Sherlock Holmes, Columbo or Hercule Poirot, who work mostly solo as they put together a series of clues and solve the crime, real-life investigators rely heavily on informants. These informants tell what they know in order to rat out a competitive crime gang, or to reduce their prison sentence, or get immunity from any kind of sentencing. Sometimes they just want to be an important person.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of cranks who pose as informants for the same motives. These "false witnesses" wasted a lot of Busor's time by causing him to chase dead ends.

But it's a dangerous game. Many key informants in this book end up murdered. It is even possible that the original thieves have since been murdered.

It is disheartening to see how many deadly criminals have been granted immunity because of their willingness to cut-throat other criminals. There is one particularly hair raising case where a Crime Boss worked with an FBI agent to get all of his competition behind bars and then took over their turf and businesses while enjoying the immunity granted to him by the agent.

Another disheartening fact is lawyers who make careers out of getting criminals off the hook. One of the primary suspects for the Gardner Heist was a known criminal in organized crime, committing all sorts of murders, and robberies only to get off due to the expert handling of his attorney.

Who was his lawyer? John Kerry.

In fact there is more than one politician listed in the book with connections to organized crime. A scary thought.

[Olivia (Stories For Coffee) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, haunting, and teeming with endless theories, I only hope these paintings are found within my lifetime.

[Jane Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

So…. I still don’t know who did it…. Pretty good read tho

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ughhh I cannot tell you if most people would like this book but I loved it so much I was rereading every chapter as I went, just to experience it twice. I love Boser's way of romanticizing everything. I loved the character painted of Isabella Stewart Gardner. I loved the way he characterizes suspects, informants, and everyone else who comes up in the book. I love the way he makes it feel like the heist happened yesterday. There is literally nothing I don't love about this book.

Also, fun fact, this book came out in 2008 originally, but I did some Googling for updates.

-Major suspect Turner is now behind bars for a long time. However, he got his sentence reduced by 7 years mysteriously- did he offer to trad info on the paintings to the government? Did anything come of it?

-FBI said in 2013 they know who did it, and they're both dead, but won't tell us who. Am skeptical af.

-Just last month, coincidentally, May of 2017, the museum offered a doubling of its reward- from 5 million to 10 million- offer lasting until December of this year. If you have the paintings, GR friends, here's your chance. No statute of limitations, full immunity, come on guys. Let's give them back to the public.

Ugh. Time for a trip to the ISG. <3

[Patricia Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been marking this book up as I read it due to the plethora of inaccuracies, bad writing and dumb things the author did while he was "on the case"! Examples: 1) saying that the thieves were a mere 100 feet away from Titian's Europa when they were stealing the Degas sketches and the finial. The Degas sketches and finial were on the second floor, Europa is on the third, so yeah, 100 feet away through the floor! 2)A ranch style house is a "ranch house", not a "rancher"! 3) Boser drove aimlessly around the coast of Ireland looking for Whitey Bulger in bars and on beachfronts. Oh please! Etc. etc.

Anthony Amore, the security director at the Gardner, has basically said that the book is crap. There are some redeeming moments but most of these are rehashes of material from other sources.

It is interesting to me that the book was blurbed by Noah Charney, the author of the fiction book The Art Thief. (See my review). I find both authors to be okay writers who seem wildly impressed with themselves and consider themselves experts even though it is not apparent that anyone else does.

Still, this will remain on my shelf due to the subject matter.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, we learned nothing, but you know. That's life.

[abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5) this man really tried to walk around ireland and find whitey bulger like how am i supposed to keep reading

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome! It tells the story of an art heist that still remains unsolved.

[Dee Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audible credit 8 hours 27 min. Narrated by Stephen Graybill (C)

Save your money and your time. It's just a string of stories of possible suspects. At the end of the book, one knows no more than before. It's still an unsolved crime, and the paintings are still missing 33 years later.

[Smam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely informative. There's something frustrating about reading an unsolved case, knowing you won't get a clear plot line and a nice wrap up solution at the end like a mystery novel. Not frustrating in a bad way, of course, just part of the reality. This is an interesting case and has captured the imagination of Bostonians for decades. I think at times, the reality kind of dampens these fights of fancy, like... oh it's not a romantic heist pulled off by some dashing master thief, it's just Boston underworld.

Maybe an unfair complaint about nonfiction that, by its nature, is going to be focused on certain people, but this book sorely lacked the perspective of women. Isabella Stewart Gardner herself obviously features at the center of the mystery, but beyond that, every lead pursued is one man after another. I understand that may be how this underworld works, but it seems either the author missed potential leads by not investigating and interviewing the women involved with these men, or he did investigate them and was remiss in not including that in the book.

There are occasional references to women as commodity that stood out to me and felt dehumanizing. Things like mentions of someone selling a painting for "a night with a prostitute" or how they'd be able to buy weapons, drugs, women, etc. and like... that's sex trafficking! That's rape! I didn't love how women were rarely featured as anyone important to the case, but victims of trafficking were dehumanized and referenced so casually. Not sure if I'm expressing this well, but it just felt very thoughtless.

Despite these complaints, I did find the book really interesting, and it's always cool to take a deeper look at something that I don't have a lot of knowledge about. Art is fascinating and money is so so fake.

[Rebecca McPhedran · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of one of the worlds largest unsolved art theft. The Isabella Stuart Gardner museum was broken into on St. Patrick's day in 1990. To this day, the art has never been recovered and no one has been formally charged with the theft. Paintings worth millions of dollars were stolen that night, and it's like they disappeared.
Ulrich Boser is obsessed, like many before him, with finding the paintings. A long list of Boston underworld kingpins are implicated, but none are charged. Boser travelled all over the world pursuing leads. At one point, he traveled to Ireland, thinking he himself could catch infamous crime boss, Whitey Bulger.
A story that will keep you guessing, and one with no solid ending. The Gardner Heist is a well researched book, that shows some people are ruthless when it comes to art. And some mysteries are yet to be solved.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really torn on how to review this because I learned a lot of unexpected history from this book such as the history of Isabella Gardner, how she acquired her money, she seems like such an interesting character, how the crime occurred, why the frames remain empty, and why the masterpieces are likely ruined. I learned about why art gets stolen in the first place. I learned a lot about organized crime in Boston; now I’m paranoid since I just moved here. The lengths journalists must go thru to tell a story and the years it takes to do so. The art itself, how delicate it is, how they are preserved and restored was all fascinating. But, it took me 8 days to finish. The first part of the book was captivating; waned towards the middle. The style of writing changed mid-way and it lost me in the details. I’m still glad I read it.

[Jill Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another reviewer of this book gave it four stars because he thought the ending was inconclusive - the paintings stolen in 1990 have never been found. Well, that is the fact, and if this book could only end with the recovery, then it wouldn't/couldn't have been written.

Boser writes a very readable tale of art, both purchased and stolen, and the personalities who came together - over a period of about 150 years - to make the Gardner heist the world's largest theft. He writes about the paintings and their provenance and how Isabella Stewart Gardner - an outsized personality - came to collect her art and put together her highly idiosyncratic museum. He writes about the search - ongoing for the past 20 years - to recover the masterpieces and the men and women, who were both victims and perpetrators of the crime.

I enjoyed the book.

[Pamela (Here to Read Books and Chew Gum) · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some interesting moments here, but it focuses too much on the things that didn't happen, rather the things that did. I'm fascinated by art history, and art theft especially, but this was a little too tangential, with some pretty vague claims.

[Jeimy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew nothing about the Gardner Heist before reading this book, but I enjoyed the narrative Boser wove.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I stood in front of the missing Rembrandt seascape and stared into the silk green-gold wallpaper, and slowly my vision began to blur and narrow. There was canvas and underdrawing… And then, as quickly as it came, the image faded away, more than just a wish, because for there to be beauty or love or truth, there must first be hope.”

This book was wildly intriguing at the start, detailing one of the most perplexing and fascinating art heists in modern history. However, as the book continued, it suffered from a wide cast of characters and constant flipping back and forth between theories. Doing such with a famous criminal such as Whitey Bulger was easy enough to follow; however, the reintroduction with little context of lesser thieves like David Turner or Myles Connor made for a bit of confusion.

Additionally, the whole subplot where the author journeyed to Ireland, seeking Whitey Bulger in the Irish countryside as if he could be the one to finally find one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals, was so absurd to me that it almost made me question the author’s credibility.

However, at the heart of it, this book is a story about the craziness of art: how its beauty can cause unexplainable actions and how tightly it is wrapped up in the criminal underworld. If nothing else, the aforementioned subplot proved that.

I do love how much the book focused on how great a gift art is and how depraved the act of stealing it from the common people is. It is a rare and beautiful opportunity to view an invaluable piece of work that people would kill over to have.

If anything, the book made me want to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum once again.

[Matthew Lutkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars. The Gardner Museum Heist is a captivating mystery that has haunted my mind ever since I learned about it. I want to help detectives solve it. I desire more information, any information at all. This book did a fantastic job at presenting details of the mystery. However, I was expecting more of a timeline that showed new and exciting discoveries, especially after the author seemed to have done so much work for the investigation. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining read that made me fall more in love with Boston and its rich history.

One more thing: I would’ve loved to see more modern political commentary on the (inflated) trade of art and giving invaluable artworks objective prices. It seems like the author was reaching these points in some chapters, but no substance was achieved.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the book. I read everything I can about art heists, and as many people know, the Gardner one was one of the largest and most devastating in many years. I think I settled on 4 rather than 5 stars for two little reasons. First, I was intrigued by the author's confession to having become a little obsessed with the case, and among people who study it, that is entirely fair. So it seemed fitting that there would be more narrative about the unfolding of his obsession. Not that I wanted the book to be about him, necessarily, but a little more accompanying narrative would have been interesting. I did appreciate the end chapters where he acknowledges, hey, this study has to stop sometime. All in all this is a minor point, as I recognize that he was doing investigative journalism and the case is what's important. Secondly, given the many, many suspects in the case, and his and Amore's need to create databases to manage all the suspects and leads, I could have used a table or some sort of appendix just sorting it all out visually. This would have been difficult given the amount of data, but perhaps a chart of the most significant data would help.

I read an interview with the author indicating he had more narrative/information to share about both Smith's account of the Golden Door heist and Detective Charlie Hill. I, too, wish there'd been room to include that content in The Gardner Heist. I do understand why some material has to hit the cutting room floor, so to speak.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several iconic paintings were stolen from the Gardner Museum in 1990 and they've never been recovered nor the perpetrators caught. At least they were not caught for this crime. I still can't quite get past the thieves cutting the paintings from their frames! Dang it if you're gonna heist something beautiful at least treat it with respect. I'd always assumed art was well protected and that when it was stolen it was stolen for or by someone who craved and treasured it. Boser says this is not true. Until recently museums did not have the funds or maybe even inclination to guard their works with state of the art security measures. Also, often the underworld, not art connoisseurs, steal it and they do so to use as currency to buy arms or drugs. I also suppose they don't know how to store it properly. The Gardner art was easy to steal but it hasn't been easy to catch the thieves. Many people, both law officials and independents, tracked down many leads. In fact there are so many suspects that it's hard to keep all the players straight. For all I know you and I are also suspects and I'm not 100% certain you're in the clear. For the most part Boser does a good job of explaining the evidence. It feels petty to mention this but there are a disconcerting number of typos in this book.....words left out or words stuck in that don't belong. It was distracting. I enjoyed the last chapter where Boser speculates and tries to make sense of this crime. What a loss that the Vermeer and the Rembrandt's have been lost possibly for good.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking a painting is theft; recovering that painting is another story. It is theatre. On St. Patrick's Day night in 1990, two robbers stole famous, priceless works of art from the Gardner Museum in Boston. The author is a journalist; Harold Smith, the independent fine arts claims adjuster (aka art detective) he interviewed was unsucessful in the recovery of stolen art if you look at the number (15%) but then all other art detective's success rates is only 5%. The vast number of unrecovered stolen works of art "would fill a musuem with the most impressive collection ever created...A gallery of stolen art would make the Louvre seem like a small-town art gallery in comparison." The loss of a piece of art is unique because it transcends the replaceable items usually associated with insurance claims. Art is about emotional bonds with viewers and money becomes irrelevant. The drive to recover lost works of art is compelling; the author picked up the threads of the case when Harold Smith died shortly after his interview and became deeply involved in trying to solve the mystery of the loss of the works of art from the Gardner Museum theft. It was an obsession; it was addictive. I was hooked from the first pages and found myself hoping that someone would be successful in recovering even one piece from the robbery even though the title clearly states "largest, unsolved art theft." I like detective stories and this was one of the most unusual I have read.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simply for reading interest--I'd give it four stars--it's a fascinating story of stolen art, the seedy Boston underworld, lovely museums with lousy security systems, a sweet art detective, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Vermeer, and Rembrandt. Boser generally tells the story well despite the fact that it's difficult to keep track of all the potential thieves (Boston gangsters, shady lawyers, and art dealers) but the reason why I finally gave it three stars rather than four was for the sometimes distracting ways the author inserts himself into the narrative. For example, in one chapter he creates a fictional character with whom he converses for several pages; later on he becomes so obsessed that he travels to Ireland in his own private search for Whitey Bulger (as if!). The book ends on a hopeful note but those sad empty frames still grace the Gardner's walls and after reading about the ineptness of the thieves it's very hard to imagine any of the paintings coming home safely.

I'm looking forward to watching "Stolen" again--I remember it as both fascinating and strange.

[Naz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm pretty much the prime audience for this book: from Boston, in love with the Gardner, and very interested in Boston's organised crime scene. I really enjoyed all the different angles the author pursued and explained, but thought the end of the book fell flat for three reasons:
1. He goes to Ireland to find Whitey Bulger. Seriously? I actually laughed out loud at that.
2. The imagined conversation with interviewee 'G' that controls the art (or at least, is connected to people that do) was tedious and unnecessary.
3. I found the section naming David Turner and George Reissfelder as the thieves kind of anti-climactic. We learned a fair amount about Turner but next to nothing on Reissfelder.
Despite the lackluster final chapters, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in art and/or art theft.

[Gail Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is true story of the largest art theft in history at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in March of 1990. They stole dozens of masterpieces worth as much as $500 million. After thousands of leads and a reward of $50 million, the case remains unsolved and the art unreturned to their empty frames hanging on the walls.

After the death of renowned art detective, Harold Smith, the author takes over the case. Following many of Smith's unfinished leads, Ulrich Boser becomes obsessed with the case and uncovers some startling new evidence about the identities of the thieves.

I found the story of the museum itself and the artwork fascinating. After awhile however, I found all the names of the different suspects and thieves confusing.

[Jsarno49 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating account of the famed art theft which took place at the Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. Boser, a journalist, offers a thorough examination of the insurance inspectors, the suspects, the Boston underworld, and the IRA connection. Consumed by the mystery and desire to return the works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Degas to the museum, Boser explores all avenues and offers feasible explanations, but with no positive results. This book certainly opened my eyes to the sordidness and greed that exists in the world of art.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is worth the read if only for the abundance of insights into the facts surrounding the heist. It is slightly anti-climactic that the heist is never solved, but you know that before you begin so its not a terrible disappointment. Boser is an engaging writer and does a very good job of walking the reader through a great deal of complexities, although I did find his daydreams of G and visions of the paintings at the end to be written in a transparent effort to tie up loose ends that couldn’t be tied up with the (lack of) facts.