Theft at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts | The mystery still persists, 50 years later

(Montreal) Fifty years ago, skilled burglars still unknown today pulled off what is still described as the biggest art theft in Canadian history.

And this lingering mystery is not close to being solved. And no one seems to want to talk about it.

Words and mouths sewn to the Montreal Police Department, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Heritage Canada and the Ministry of Culture and Communications of Quebec.

In the early morning of September 4, 1972, three men managed to enter the museum after descending through a skylight. They had chosen this location carefully, because the alarm system had been deactivated there.

Once inside, the trio quickly overpowered the security guards.

Later, these unfortunate guards were only able to provide a vague description of the suspects, which could have corresponded to a good portion of the male population of Montreal. Two of the thieves spoke French, the third English. They wore a ski balaclava and their hair was long.

For about 90 minutes, the daring thieves wandered around the museum, carefully choosing what they wanted to seize: paintings, pieces of goldsmithery, precious objects. At first, the investigators, on the strength of the clues, thought that the three individuals had tried to install a pulley system in order to come out from where they entered. However, they concluded that the criminals had finally preferred to leave with their loot by stealing a van from the museum.

One of the thieves accidentally triggered the alarm installed on a side door. This fact seems to demonstrate that it is not a theft organized by museum employees.

The daring thieves managed to bring 18 canvases painted by great masters like Delacroix, Rubens, Rembrandt or Corot and 39 precious objects.

They had given up on capturing other masterpieces by great masters like Goya, El Greco, Picasso or Renoir, no doubt because these canvases were too bulky to be transported.

The Museum of Fine Arts then estimated the theft at around 2 million – or 14 million in today’s money. However, the Rembrandt alone was worth more than that.

Only two of the 51 stolen pieces have been recovered, including ironically a canvas then falsely attributed to Brueghel the Elder.

This spectacular theft quickly disappeared from the headlines, overshadowed by other events such as the Blue Bird fire that killed 37 people, the hostage crisis at the Munich Olympics and, of course, the beginning of the Century Series between the Canadian and Soviet national ice hockey teams.

50 years later

The Montreal Police Department assures that this file is still open, but has not provided further information on this subject.

However, for retired investigator Alain Lacoursière, a leading figure in the field whose brilliance in solving art crimes has earned him the nickname “Colombo of art”, it would be surprising if the SPVM continued to really investigate since no one is familiar with this file.

According to statements made to journals Journal of Art Crime and Canadian ArtMr. Lacoursière believes that the investigators were on the wrong track from the start and gave up too quickly.

Although the museum’s public relations department has gathered files on the theft, it remains hesitant to talk about it. The theft is, so to speak, a done deal. The canvases and objects would henceforth legally belong to the insurer.

The theft had also dealt a severe blow to the reputation of the museum.

“Any art theft is a tragedy that deprives society of the benefits of art and knowledge,” says Maude Béland, media relations officer at the Musée des Beaux-Arts. Of course, we would like to find them! Unfortunately, we have no new information. »

The Canadian Press tried unsuccessfully to get comments from officials at all three levels of government.

This flight remains unique in the annals, if only for its few twists and turns. Thus, the thieves, who were perhaps negotiating a ransom, had given the canvas attributed to Brueghel the Elder to the museum as a sign of good faith. Amazement and amazement when we learned later that this canvas was probably not by the great Brabant master.

In an article published in 2011, the Journal of Art Crime revealed that doubts had been raised about the authenticity of seven of the stolen canvases, sometimes even before the theft. To top it off, the museum had bought a painting by Rubens with the insurance money only to find out later that it was an attribution error.