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Arts and Culture

Art Thieves Pull Off Major Heist in Zurich

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Posted on Feb 11, 2008
Van Gogh
time.com

Van Gogh’s 1888 painting “The Sower” is among the Buehrle Collection’s lineup of famous artworks. It was not one of the paintings that were stolen.

The private collection of famous artworks at Zurich’s E.G. Buehrle Collection was downsized over the weekend, and not at the proprietors’ behest. On Sunday, three disguised and armed robbers stole over $160 million worth of artwork by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and other masters from the Swiss museum.


AP via Breitbart.com:

Zurich police said the robbery took place Sunday. Also among the works stolen were oil paintings by Paul Cezanne and Edgar Degas.

Police called the heist a “spectacular art robbery,” but did not identify the museum, saying only that it is in the city’s eighth district.

The prosperous and peaceful outer district on the eastern shore of Lake Zurich is home to several notable art collections.

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By Maani, February 17, 2008 at 9:01 pm Link to this comment

Thought y’all might find this interesting and apropos…

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/weekinreview/17kennedy.html?ref=weekinreview&pagewanted=print

Peace.

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By cyrena, February 17, 2008 at 6:06 pm Link to this comment

This came to my mind as well Dennis, after the first thought..Who the hell are they gonna sell the stuff to?

Only the ultra rich. Like getaclue mentioned quite simply in his post, some rich white folks stealing from some other rich white folks by proxy.

Some thugs get some pocket change in the deal.

The shame IS that they will wind up hidden and unviewed or otherwise unappreciated by the rest of us.

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By getaclue, February 14, 2008 at 2:29 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

don’t be daft.  one old rich white fucker stealing from another through proxys.

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By wagonjak, February 14, 2008 at 12:55 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I saw pictures of the 4 stolen paintings, and I believe the one you’ve posted on the article is not one of them…a small thing, but….

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Leefeller's avatar

By Leefeller, February 13, 2008 at 6:49 am Link to this comment

Now I know what those Swiss Army knives are for.

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By Dr. Knowitall, PhD, PhD, February 12, 2008 at 7:06 pm Link to this comment

Art becomes currency passed between crime organizations.

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By Maani, February 12, 2008 at 1:29 pm Link to this comment

Wow!  Someone quoting 10CC!  Neat!  Cool!  Bravo!

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By Douglas Chalmers, February 12, 2008 at 12:22 pm Link to this comment

”...robbers stole over $160 million worth of artwork by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and other masters…”

The rich will never learn, uhh! In the end, all must learn the nature of impermanence. Climate change will teach it to us in the end if nothing else will…...

Art is creation and creativity. It is imagination and the use of one’s imagination. It is appreciation and the enhancement of understanding. Money has no part in any of it.

There are many great artists today struggling for a living. Throwing money at art collectors, the dictators of art, does not help them. Just as old actors continue to selfishly crowd out the new and deny them an opportunity, so too must the old works give way to a new dawn and a newer understanding.

Art as we know it in such galleries and museums is as dead as religion without a living master. It is an empty, perhaps pretty, shell - and nothing more! But, then, so too are the souls of the wealthy who dote upon dead artists…..

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By DennisD, February 11, 2008 at 5:10 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Art for art’s sake, money for God’s sake - 10cc.

Believe it or not there is a market among the super rich for these works. They will more than likely wind up in very private collections unseen or appreciated by anyone except their new owners.

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By Maani, February 11, 2008 at 2:16 pm Link to this comment

Haven’t thesehigh-level art thieves learned anything yet?  Where do they expect to offload these?  Who could hang these without their eventually being discovered - and thus both the buyer (who will be arrested for buying OBVIOUSLY stolen property) and the theieves (who the buyer will undoubtedly give up in order to plea bargain) will end up in jail, and the art back where it belongs.  This has happened in almost every high-profile art theft in the past 30 years.

Ultimately, I think these guys do it just to see if they can, and the authorities will find these paintings somewhere after an “anonymous” tip.

Hey kids, can you spell “The Thomas Crown Affair?”

LOL.

Peace.

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By samosamo, February 11, 2008 at 1:51 pm Link to this comment

Surely these thieves didn’t steal this stuff to hang on their walls. They will most likely cash it in and go enjoy the good life. Now that the the modern era of american politics makes thief a legitimate source of income these guys have it made. Hell, maybe it is just a start and they will be able to purchase an inside road to the vast riches that the american government is giving away by ‘donating’ to their canidate of choice.

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