Quarantine Robberies
The world is locked down, everyone is dutifully staying inside and slathering on hand sanitizer right?! No one would even think about going outside more than once a day for a short walk, especially not in the busy city. Many people are concerned about friends and relatives and not thinking about museums and galleries. So obviously some opportunists decided it would be the perfect time for a break-in.
This is the absolute dream scenario for a thief, all museums and galleries housing famous and valuable works of art are closed, everyone is inside thinking about other things, and the world is looking elsewhere. Someone or someones took advantage of this opportunity and broke into a small museum in the Netherlands stealing one work only, a Van Gogh titled The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring. Another group in England decided it was the perfect time to break into the Christ Church Picture Gallery in Oxford and make off with three works; A Rocky Coast with Soldiers Studying a Plan by Salvator Rosa, A Soldier on Horseback by Antony Van Dyck, and A Boy Drinking by Annibale Carracci.
I’ll go over a few of the released details about each case and then discuss them both together. Because there isn’t a ton that has been publicly released about these robberies there is not a lot to go on, so as a result, I will have to speculate a little, please bear with me.
Van Gogh Robbery
Interestingly, they pulled this off on March 30, 2020, which would have been Van Gogh’s 167th birthday. To me, this seems like TOO BIG of a coincidence to be just a coincidence but I guess it could have been a crime of opportunity with the museums in the Netherlands shutting down on March 13 and the thief not knowing how long the quarantine would last.
In an interview, the Netherlands museum’s director said: “they knew what they were doing, going straight for the famous master” and “it’s an early picture...so it is darker and less recognizable as a Van Gogh” (de Lorm, 2020). Thinking about it, it’s a smart strategy to steal one piece only and something not super iconic or immediately recognizable to the casual viewer. This may be easier to sell or get out of the country or do who knows what with. I’m also wondering if this could be a contracted theft since they only stole this one specific painting while it was on loan from another museum.
Oxford Robbery
On March 14 the Christ Church Picture Gallery was broken into and three old old old paintings were taken. The three works that were stolen are all over 350 years old and worth an estimated ten million euros (!!!!). Likely they will try to sell them so hopefully, the paintings can be tracked down before that happens.
The police have been asking people who live along the River Cherwell or the River Thames near Oxford if they’ve had their boat stolen or noticed anything unusual on the river the night of the robbery. It is just a hypothesis for now but looks like they think this was a boat heist, fun! Seems like something out of the Italian Job movie to steal 350-year-old paintings and then zoom away in a speedboat into the night probably laughing and smoking a cigar, I digress.
Quarantine Factor
Now, in both cases, I’m not sure if the thieves care about quarantine or are obeying the rules but the way I see it there are now two scenarios for this painting currently.
Thieves Follow Quarantine Rules
This one is so funny to me because it is amazing to imagine someone brazen enough to break into an art gallery and stealing valuable paintings, in the case of Van Gogh, a work by one of the most famous artists in the world, yet is following social distancing and quarantine rules. In this scenario, the thief has the artwork at their house and because they can’t sell it or move it to another location they get to be the only person in the world admiring it. I can’t decide if this person is an art lover or a common criminal seizing an opportunity.
2. Thieves Disregard Quarantine Rules
This one honestly seems more likely to me because why would you care about wiping down a painting with some Lysol wipes if you’re cool with breaking into a museum. It seems likely that the black market for art is still able to operate, however, delayed shipping times may throw a wrench in this so hopefully, the artworks are still in their respective countries. I guess COVID may be good for one thing after all.
At the end of the day who really knows what is going on. Fingers crossed that these people come forward and return the paintings or are caught, either way is fine with me. If they do return to the museums it will be interesting to see what they do to sanitize or quarantine them and make sure they have no germs on them. Such is life during a global pandemic.
The Netherlands museum director, de Lorm also said something else while being interviewed that stuck with me, “especially in these dark days that we are in, I feel so strongly that art is here to comfort us, to inspire us and to heal us” (2020). Hoping we’ll be able to go see some art in person soon.
Works Cited
Schuetze, Christopher F. “Early van Gogh Painting Stolen from Dutch Museum”. The New York Times. March 30, 2020. Section C, Page 2. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/arts/design/van-gogh-painting-stolen.html