Travis Simpkins: "Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World's Greatest Art Heist" by Stephen Kurkjian

"Master Thieves" by Stephen Kurkjian

Public Affairs, 2015

Brief Review by Travis Simpkins

Twenty-five years have passed since 13 priceless works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in what has now become one of Boston's most enduring and frustrating mysteries. Investigative reporter, Stephen Kurkjian, has been covering the Gardner Theft case for nearly 20 of those years. In his 2015 book, Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World's Greatest Art Heist, Kurkjian presents his research with the straightforward and objective points of a seasoned journalist.

Space is given to the current theory maintained by the FBI, which was alluded to in a 2013 press conference. They know the identities of the thieves (who are both now deceased), and have traced the path of the stolen works through organized crime channels from Maine, Connecticut and Philadelphia. Much attention is given to Robert Gentile, one of the last men alive who may know the whereabouts of the Gardner masterpieces.

Stephen Kurkjian, however, also offers an alternate theory which he suggests holds a strong element the FBI's thesis does not: a motive. Kurkjian writes of an anonymous source that told him the theft was committed by low-level figure Robert Donati, who had hoped to use the stolen works as leverage in negotiating the release of his boss, Vincent Ferrara. This thought was echoed by notorious art thief, Myles Connor, who wrote a similar twist in his autobiography, The Art of the Heist.

Of particular interest early-on in the book is the notation that an eerily similar event to the Gardner Heist occurred two months prior at the nearby Museum of Fine Arts, when two men claiming to be Boston Police Officers rang the intercom after midnight looking for admittance. Per protocol, the MFA guard did not let them in and left briefly to get supervisor approval, but the two men were gone when he returned.

Many of the familiar names associated with the case are given pause in the text, including David Turner, George Reissfelder, Tom Mashberg, William Youngworth, Richard Abath, Whitey Bulger, Myles Connor, Lyle Grindle, Robert Guarente, David Houghton, Martin Leppo, Robert Luisi, Carmello Merlino, Carmen Ortiz, Charles Pappas, Jurek "Rocky" Rokoszynski, Ralph and Stephen Rossetti, Louis Royce and Frank Salemme.

The 13 stolen works, including masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt and Degas remain the subjects of the largest property theft in history… valued at upwards of $500 million. Their recovery is essential in restoring the legacy of Isabella Stewart Gardner, who intended her collection, in it's entirety, to be enjoyed by the public forever. The 221 pages offer many valid and thoughtful points… and as Kurkjian concludes, his "hope is that this book will hasten their return."