 An anonymous painting similar to Jan Davidsz van Heem's Still Life: Vanitas, among the stolen works | |
| Date | September 4, 1972 |
|---|---|
| Time | 12:30 a.m. |
| Duration | 21⁄2 hours |
| Venue | Montreal Museum of Fine Arts |
| Location | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Coordinates | 45°29′55″N 73°34′48″W / 45.4987°N 73.5801°W |
| Also known as | Skylight Caper |
| Outcome | $2 million worth of paintings and jewellery stolen, only two pieces of which have been recovered |
| Suspects | Three unidentified men |
The 1972 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts robbery, sometimes called the Skylight Caper,[1][2][3] took place very early in the morning of September 4. Three armed robbers used a skylight under repair to gain entry to the museum from its roof, tied up the three guards on duty, and left on foot with 18 paintings, including a rare Rembrandt landscape and works by (or attributed to at the time) Jan Brueghel the Elder, Corot, Delacroix, Rubens, and Thomas Gainsborough, as well as some figurines and jewellery, for a total of 53 works.[2][4] One of the Brueghels (later reattributed to a student of the painter) was returned by the thieves as an initiative to start ransom negotiations. None of the other paintings have ever been recovered. The robbers have never been arrested or even publicly identified, although there is at least one informal suspect.
Collectively, the missing paintings have been valued at US$27.6 million in 2023;[5] although their value may have diminished since the theft as scholars have called the attribution of some of the works into question. However, the Rembrandt alone has been valued at $1 million; in 2003 The Globe and Mail estimated it to have appreciated in value to $20 million. The thieves appeared to know what works they were looking for. Many had been part of Masterpieces from Montreal, a travelling exhibition that had been to many museums in the U.S. and Canada prior to Expo 67, as well as some other special exhibits put on by the museum in the preceding years. It is not only the largest art theft in Canada[2][4] but the largest theft in Canadian history.[6][7]
Investigation of the crime proved difficult in the early going, since it occurred over the Labour Day holiday weekend, when many of the museum's officials including its director were vacationing far away from Montreal. It was further complicated by continuing news coverage of the Blue Bird Café fire, Montreal's deadliest arson, three days earlier, dominating the headlines; the next day the killings of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the Olympics in Munich further diminished media coverage. A sting operation conceived after the thieves returned the Brueghel (later reattributed to his students) and mailed photos of the other works to the museum seeking a ransom payment went awry; a later attempt to negotiate their return cost the museum $10,000 with no results.
The thieves took advantage of weakened security, resulting from the renovations at the museum, which had left the skylight's alarm disabled. The renovations and the security flaws were themselves a consequence of the museum's tightening finances, which had worsened during the 1960s as many of the wealthy Anglophone community in Montreal that had supported the museum since its founding in 1860 began to leave for Toronto due to increasing concerns over Quebec separatism,[8] especially after terrorist acts by the Front de libération du Québec had led to martial law in the Montreal area two years earlier. Sûreté du Québec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Interpol continue to investigate the crime. Theories as to who might be responsible have ranged from the Montreal Mafia to Quebec separatists.
- ^ Sezgin, Catherine Schofield (Fall 2010). "The Skylight Caper: The Unsolved 1972 Theft of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts" (PDF). The Journal of Art Crime (4): 57–68. ISSN 1947-5934. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ^ a b c Noakes, Taylor. "50 years after major Montreal art theft, trail has gone cold and nobody's talking". CBC. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ Hampton, Chris (October 7, 2019). "The Skylight Caper". Canadian Art. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
- ^ a b Haber, Paul (November 18, 2022). "Largest art heist in Canadian history still a mystery after 50 years". CTV News. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
- ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
- ^ "1972: Art heist at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts". CBC News. September 4, 1972. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ "Today in Canadian Art History: The Largest Art Theft in Canadian History Occurred at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal". Canada Arts Connect. September 4, 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-07-20. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
- ^ Sezgin, Catherine Schofield (September 4, 2014). "Unsolved '72 Theft of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts". Association for Research into Crimes against Art. Retrieved August 26, 2017.