The Las Cruces Museum of Art’s monthly Reading Art Book Club will host an open, group discussion on the book, The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World’s Largest Unsolved Art Theft, by Ulrich Boser on Wednesday, November 9, at 2:30pm in the Museum of Nature and Science classroom.
Shortly after midnight on March 18, 1990, two men broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and committed the largest art heist in history. They stole a dozen masterpieces, including one Vermeer, three Rembrandts, and five Degas. Boser’s rousing account of his years spent collecting clues large and small is entertaining enough to make readers almost forget that, after 18 years, the paintings have still not been found: the museum is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to their return.
To jump start the discussion, the Museum of Art will show the documentary Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston at 1:30pm. The short film goes behind the scenes at Gardner’s palatial Boston museum and shows her amazing collection of paintings, architectural antiquities, tapestries, etc.
Reading Art Book Club meetings are free and open to the public. Join us even if you haven’t read the book! For more information or for details on book selections, contact Stephanie Abdon at 541-2217 or e-mail sabdon@las-cruces.org.
Admission to the City of Las Cruces Museums are free. The museums are located on the downtown mall and are open Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 4:30pm and Saturday from 9am to 4:30pm. For additional information, visit the website at: museums.las-cruces.org.
If you need an accommodation for a disability to enable you to fully participate in this event, please contact the museum 48 hours prior to the event.