Art History Research Paper

Art history majors studying at institutions have a wide variety of options for them to pursue into a career. Becoming a curator, teacher, conservator, or being an art critic are just some of the possible professional choices that could be made. However, there is also a more nontraditional route when thinking about jobs. Art lawyers and art crime teams can be organized when legal issues regarding artworks are threatened. Specialists come in to address crimes against art whether they be art heists, issues of ownership or repatriation laws, and even proving whether or not something is a forgery. All around the world, there have been art heists and art crimes. There are specialized teams of people, like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central

This institution had magnificent works that were stolen. “In March 1990, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts was robbed by two unknown men. The thieves removed works of art whose value has been estimated as high as $300 million.” There were thirteen works of art stolen from the museum which included works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Manet, Govaert Flinck, and Degas. The Vermeer stolen was called The Concert. A Lady and Gentleman in Black, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, and Self-Portrait were the three Rembrandt’s that were taken. A total of five Degas’ called La Sortie de Pesage, Cortege aux Environs de Florence, Program for an artistic soiree (1), Program for an artistic soiree (2), and Three Mounted Jockeys had been robbed. As well as two objects called the Chinese Beaker or Ku, a Bronze Eagle Finial, and two other paintings, Govaert Flinck’s Landscape with Obelisk and Manet’s Chez Tortoni. Today there are still empty frames of the works that were stolen on the walls, which is interesting because when going through the museum, actual works are hanging right next to empty frames of the works that are missing. It changes the mood of the room in a slight way with evoking feelings of curiosity and of mystery from the viewers. Many scholars and experts have researched this heist for various reasons. These reasons include how the thieves got away with the crime, where the paintings are now, and why they were stolen. “Hundreds of FBI agents and police officers investigated the Gardner theft, and as the years passed, the mystique and mystery of the heist only grew.” The Gardner Museum theft still stuns people all over the world because it is such a conundrum. Two thieves managed to pull off the whole heist, and they did this very early in the morning while wearing Boston police uniforms. “They gained entry into the Museum by posing as Boston police