America’s First Armed Art Heist: How 2 Masked Men Stole 4 Priceless Masterpieces from Massachusetts Museum

America’s First Armed Art Heist: How 2 Masked Men Stole 4 Priceless Masterpieces from Massachusetts Museum

In the annals of American crime history, the year 1972 marked a significant incident – the first armed art heist in the country. The Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts fell victim to this audacious crime, where two masked men brazenly stole four priceless masterpieces, setting the stage for what would later become the basis of the film “The Mastermind”, starring Josh O’Connor.

The heist, which forms the core of the movie, involved the theft of two works by Paul Gauguin, one by Pablo Picasso, and one attributed to Rembrandt at the time. This daring act unfolded in a matter of minutes, with the criminals almost making a clean getaway until an unarmed security guard, Philip Evans, tried to intervene. The situation escalated when Evans attempted to question the robbers, leading to a gunshot as the thieves fled the museum premises.

Subsequently, law enforcement authorities swarmed the scene, including police, FBI agents, and customs officials. Evans, who sustained a gunshot wound to the waist, received medical attention for what was deemed a superficial injury. Eyewitness accounts and interviews with museum staff shed light on the stolen artworks – a Picasso, two Gauguins, and a piece initially attributed to Rembrandt, later believed to be the work of one of the Dutch master’s students.

Among the witnesses were four high school students, two of whom found themselves face-to-face with the armed thieves during the heist. The teenagers, Beth Ellen T. Hurowitz and Kathy Kartiganer, recounted the harrowing experience of being held at gunpoint while the robbers seized specific paintings from the gallery. The perpetrators, displaying precision in their selection, grabbed “The Brooding Woman” and “Head of a Woman” by Gauguin, “Mother and Child” by Picasso, and the piece once thought to be a Rembrandt.

Outside the museum, additional drama unfolded as the thieves encountered the girls’ friends waiting in a car, inadvertently obstructing the getaway vehicle. This confrontation culminated in a tense moment when one of the robbers brandished a gun at Geri Wolfson, prompting her to swiftly move the car. The culprits hastily fled the scene, leaving the stolen paintings behind.

The stolen artworks were later discovered concealed on a pig farm in Rhode Island and subsequently returned to the museum. Authorities swiftly apprehended four individuals linked to the heist, with tips from local bar patrons proving instrumental in the arrests. The mastermind, Florian “Al” Monday, managed to evade capture initially but was eventually tracked down in Montreal and extradited to the United States.

Decades later, the Worcester Art Museum heist finds renewed relevance through Kelly Reichardt’s film “The Mastermind”, featuring Josh O’Connor in a portrayal of the events surrounding the 1972 robbery. The movie, mirroring the real-life crime, delves into the lingering question of the thieves’ motives, given the sheer impossibility of monetizing such renowned artworks on the market.

Reflecting on this historic heist serves as a stark reminder of the audacity and intrigue that shrouded this unprecedented crime, immortalized both in film and the annals of criminal history. The enduring legacy of this brazen act endures as a cautionary tale of the lengths individuals will go to in pursuit of their illicit ambitions.