The story of the biggest theft in art history
Now Available
About "Master Thieves"
It is a case defined by superlatives - the largest art theft in history, carrying the world’s largest reward offer, longer on the FBI’s list of biggest unsolved art crimes than any other save one. Two men disguised as Boston Police officers trick their way into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum after midnight, tie up the two night watchmen and make off with an estimated half billion dollars worth of artwork including three works by Rembrandt and a Vermeer masterpiece.
Now 25 years after the theft, Stephen Kurkjian who was the principal reporter on the case for The Boston Globe for years, has written a gripping account of the still-unsolved heist of a quarter century ago. In MASTER THIEVES Kurkjian reveals how the two criminal gangs battling for control of the Boston under-world knew of the museum’s poor security and that one had a motive to pull off the theft - to fashion an exchange that would result in the release of its leader from federal prison.
Since Publication of "Master Thieves"
In the three years since publication Steve has spoken about the book and the theft at an estimated 200 sites including museums, national sites, libraries and community city centers, as well as participated in a podcast with WBUR. In addition Sony Pictures/TriStar has purchased the rights to the book and hired director Jose Padilha to make a film based on the story.
