Piedmont Arts Hosts Talk on History’s Greatest Art Heists

Twenty-six years ago the art world experienced one of the most devastating art heists of all time. Thieves dressed as police officers snuck into the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston and stole an estimated $500 million worth of works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and others. This mysterious theft has never been solved and none of the 13 stolen works have ever been recovered. 

Piedmont Arts invites guests to join Anne Kenny-Urban, Executive Director of Richmond’s Agecroft Hall, for “Stranger Than Fiction: Great Art Heists in History,” a talk discussing the Gardener heist and other notable art thefts from around the globe. Find out why museums from Amsterdam to Zimbabwe have been targets for art thieves and what tools thieves have used to elude detection.

“I hope guests will be amazed and amused at some of the ingenious plots used by art thieves,” said Kenny-Urban. “Oftentimes, stories of art theft seem to be lifted from the pages of a thriller rather than the news, and yet, they are all true. Some heists are elaborate affairs, while others have required nothing more than a towel, some rope and a little luck.”

“Stranger Than Fiction: Great Art Heists in History” will take place on Tuesday, May 3 at 6:30 pm at Piedmont Arts. 

Tickets are $15 each and are on sale now at Piedmont Arts, 215 Starling Ave., by calling 276.632.3221 or online at PiedmontArts.org. Space is limited and guests are encouraged to purchase tickets early. 

“Stranger Than Fiction: Great Art Heists in History” is part of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ Speakers on the Arts series.