Taft Museum of Art Theft
In 1973 in Cincinnati two Rembrandts were stolen. This may seem from the outset like a run-of-the-mill art heist but I promise you it is anything but. Buckle in for the twists and turns that come with this one.
The Theft
On December 18, 1973, at 1:57 am two men wearing ski masks and gloves pointed a gun at the night guard at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati. They forced him to take them to a second-floor gallery where the Rembrandt paintings were kept. They then taped his arms and legs to a chair, took two paintings off the wall in their frames and made off with them.
The paintings were Man Leaning on a Sill and Portrait of an Elderly Woman by Rembrandt dating back to the 1640s. They were part of the museum’s permanent collection, having been bequeathed to the people of Cincinnati by Charles Philip Taft in 1927. At the time they were appraised for $250,000 and $80,000, respectively.
Immediately after the theft, the Cincinnati police contacted the FBI as well as Interpol in the hopes of stopping the paintings before they left the country or were sold on the black market. But this is where things start to get weird. Art critics and scholars who read about the case in the newspaper thought that it was odd the thieves had stolen these two lesser-known Rembrandts especially when Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair was being exhibited with a companion portrait from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on another floor of the gallery. Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair is a better-known painting and significantly more valuable so people wondered why these two different paintings had been chosen.
The First Lead
That same Tuesday night, only hours after the crime had been committed, John Warrington, chairman of the Taft Museum Committee, got a call. It was from a man named James L. Hough who said he had leads on how to find the missing paintings. Hough was an interesting character who worked in real estate. He was somewhat of a mysterious man who flashed his wealth and often drove around with a lion cub in his car (????). Already I would be wary. Warrington and Hough agreed to meet at the mall to discuss in a coffee shop. During this meeting, Hough told Warrington that he could act as the museum’s agent in negotiating the release of the paintings back to them, but he wanted a finders fee. Hough told Warrington that the thieves had contacted him over the phone and were willing to return one of the paintings as proof that they had the stolen works. He produced from his shoe (a little dramatic) a set of instructions that would point Warrington to the place to pick up the painting that would be returned. Warrington followed the instructions to the drop point where he was supposed to find the painting but there was nothing there. He was told the thieves had gotten nervous and to go to the second drop point but that was empty too. Frustrated, Warrington went home.
The First Painting Appears
Later that evening Warrington received a call from Al Schottelkotte, a news anchor on WCPO-TV. He invited Warrington to be on the 11:00 news that evening to identify one of the Rembrandt paintings that had been stolen just hours before, on that same day. He went to the studio and appeared on the show alongside Hough who was introduced as a real estate broker who had found the painting in a barn in the countryside. Warrington was able to confirm that the painting before them was Portrait of an Elderly Woman by Rembrandt. Also in the segment, Hough made it clear to viewers that he was acting as the go-between for the museum and the thieves. You can watch the clip below. Weird though that when Hough recovered the painting he called the news instead of calling the police.
Speaking of the police they were watching from the side of the studio as this segment was broadcast and took possession of the painting as soon as it was over.
The Ransom
Through Hough, the thieves demanded a $200,000 ransom for the return of the other painting. Warrington discusses this with the museum’s board and they agree that $100,000 is their maximum. Hough told the museum that if the thieves don’t receive their $200,000 they’ll burn up the painting and mail the museum an envelope full of ashes. Thankfully the museum stood firm and after many calls, the thieves agreed to the $100,000 amount in unmarked 10s and 20s to be placed in two bags in a suitcase. The suitcase was given to Hough who was instructed to put it inside an ice machine and after the money was collected and counted the instructions for how to find the painting were provided. Man Leaning on a Sill was then recovered in good condition with the only damage being a chip to the frame.
Following the recovery of the second painting, the police swooped in and arrested the two thieves, Carl Horsley and Henry Dawn, as well as the getaway driver, Raymond McDonough. They had been tipped off about the thieves’ identities by a secret informant but wanted to secure the painting before making any arrests. The ransom money was recovered and the museum provided Hough with a finders fee of $15,000 (which he asked for) but he returned it.
The Trial
In court, the secret informant was revealed to be a man named Donald Lee Johnson and five men were indicted including Johnson and Hough. The prosecutor agreed to let four of the defendants plead guilty to lesser charges if they testified against Hough who was charged with extortion. harbouring a felon, and receiving stolen goods.
Over the course of the trial, the story unfolded like a heist movie or book or something. Basically what happened is the informant, Johnson, was the mastermind behind this whole scheme. He had figured out a way to steal two Rembrandts from the Taft Museum of Art and he asked Horsley and Dawn to help him carry it out. They told him they weren’t interested, instead double-crossing him and carrying out the robbery on their own. Only problem is that they didn’t know the more valuable paintings had been moved to a different floor (for the special exhibit) so they stole the wrong ones. Horsley and Dawn then turned back to Johnson to help them get out of this mess. Johnson contacted Hough who he had worked with before as a dealer of his stolen goods.
Johnson thought they could have received $300,000 for the paintings but Hough came up with the ransom scheme and contacted Warrington at the museum.
At the end of the day the two thieves, Horsley and Dawn, were sentenced to 1-5 years in prison, and Johnson and McDonough (the getaway driver) were sentenced to six months-5 years. Based on everyone’s testimony Hough was convicted on all three counts and sentenced to 3-20 years. But he got out on parole after only 27 months. The funny thing is he tried to run for sheriff in Indiana in 1986 (you guessed it…he didn’t win).
What’s that? You want one more twist? Ok, fine. After all that, more attention was brought to these two lesser-known Rembrandts and the more experts have examined them the more they’re not sure if they were even painted by Rembrandt at all, but we’ll save that conversation for another time.
Works Cited
Suess, Jeff. “Rembrandt Painting Heist of 1973: A $200K Ransom, A Double-Cross, Heck of a Twist Ending”. The Cincinnati Enquirer. 2022. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2022/01/30/rembrandt-paintings-heist-taft-museum-bungled-1973/9226505002/