Are these the real art thieves?

BY BODE OLAJIDE

In the movies, art thieves are usually depicted in a romantic way. They are educated, elegant, attractive, with in-depth knowledge about art, artists, history. They are either sophisticated gentlemen of fine tastes or elegant ladies with expensive habits and an affinity for adventure.

In real life, art thieves are rarely the sophisticated people depicted in the movies. Not even the 80-year-old Picasso smuggler – well, he probably is a sophisticated gentleman but he is hardly an art thief. Those robbing museums and selling pieces of art on the black market are, more often than not, regular thieves, robbers, and smugglers trying to make some money. And sometimes, they are even stupid.

The wrong museum

The story starts with three petty thieves, originally from Romania, making a living in not-exactly-legal ways in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. Tired of making pennies while watching others live their best lives, the three decide to try to advance to the next level in the ranks of the criminals and reinvent themselves as art thieves.
Actually, their plan was to steal some antiques and sell them in Belgium where, apparently, people have a taste for this kind of stuff. And where else to start looking for old things than a museum? The three typed “museum Rotterdam” in their GPS, chose one, and proceeded to break in.

The first one on their list was the “Natuurhistorisch Museum” that translates to “Natural History Museum” – imagine their surprise when, instead of paintings, antiques, and jewelry, all they found were stuffed animals and bones.

The size of the bag

The three didn’t despair, though. After leaving the bones behind, they immediately stumbled upon the Kunsthal Rotterdam, an exhibition space without its own collection but often hosting others – at the time, it hosted an exhibition called “Avânt Gardes” with more than 150 paintings from famous painters like Picasso, Monet, and Van Gogh. This was the perfect target for the group – and they decided they’ll raid it at the first occasion.

Careful planning went into the raid: the three visited the museum several times before the heist, finding out as much about the security as they could, they checked how the paintings were hung on the wall, and even did some research online on which painters’ works are the most valuable. On the night of the heist, they acted quickly: they chose the paintings with the signatures of the most expensive painters, and those that fit in their raffia handbags.

Up in smoke

The group stole seven paintings signed by masters like Picasso or Monet, worth about $50 million in total. Seeing the media coverage of the matter, they decided to take the paintings home and try to find someone to sell them to from there. Somehow, they managed to take them to Romania without anyone noticing – they hid them at one of the crooks’ mother’s house in the village of Carcaliu. And she, afraid that someone might find them, buried them in the local cemetery.

The three desperately repeatedly to find an intermediary to arrange the sale of the paintings – this was hard at the time, considering that the authorities were on their backs. Ultimately, the police caught up to them, arresting the three wannabe art thieves. Hearing about this, the mother decided to get rid of the evidence: she unearthed the paintings and burned them to ashes in her stove, sending $50 million up the chimney, literally in smoke.