Home / Crime and Justice / Forgotten 1972 Worcester Art Theft Resurfaces in Gripping New Movie
Forgotten 1972 Worcester Art Theft Resurfaces in Gripping New Movie
1 Nov
Summary
- 1972 Worcester Art Museum heist inspires new film "The Mastermind"
- Thieves stole 4 masterpieces, including works by Picasso and Gauguin
- Mastermind behind the heist evaded capture for over a year
Over 50 years ago, on May 17, 1972, a brazen art heist at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts captivated the nation. Now, this forgotten crime is the inspiration for a new film, "The Mastermind," directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kelly Reichardt.
The 1972 heist saw two masked men enter the museum, steal four valuable paintings, and make a daring escape. Among the stolen works were "The Brooding Woman" and "Head of a Woman" by Paul Gauguin, "Mother and Child" by Pablo Picasso, and a piece initially attributed to Rembrandt. The thieves' precise targeting of these masterpieces suggests they had a specific plan in mind.
Despite the museum's security guard trying to intervene, the robbers managed to flee the scene, leaving the guard with a superficial gunshot wound. It would take just 10 days for police to arrest four individuals involved in the heist, but the mastermind, Florian "Al" Monday, evaded capture for over a year before being tracked down in Montreal and extradited to the United States.
The stolen paintings were eventually recovered on a pig farm in Rhode Island, but the question of "why" behind the heist has remained a mystery. The new film, "The Mastermind," starring Josh O'Connor, aims to explore this unanswered question and shed light on the motivations of the aimless son of wealthy parents who orchestrated the daring art theft.
