![]() ![]() ![]() Wittman, New York Times bestselling author of "Priceless" When: 7 p.m. What: "Art Crime: Pursuing the Priceless," an evening with Robert K. ![]() "In 100 years, we won't remember who or when," Witman said, "but we'll still have the paintings." Though art theft often isn't a violent crime, Wittman said stealing art and antiques amounts to the theft of history. Wittman was pursuing leads that pointed to the Corsican mob, but eventually the case went cold. In 1990, thieves made away with paintings, including Rembrandts and a Vermeer, today worth about $500 million, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. In his 2010 book "Priceless," Wittman also wrote about the case that still haunts the art world – and irks him – the Gardner Heist. It was one of the 14 original copies of America's Bill of Rights and worth $30 million. Stolen by a Union soldier during Sherman's march through Raleigh in 1865, the parchment had resurfaced a few times before finally being returned in 2003. Since then, he's recovered paintings, sculptures, letters, diaries, Civil War artifacts and Geronimo's eagle-feather headdress – even an original copy of the Bill of Rights that belonged to the state of North Carolina. "What I liked initially (about) working art crimes was that it was police work using your brain, more so than waving a gun," said Wittman, who became a FBI agent at the age of 32.Īt first he worked smash-and-grab robberies in his assigned city, Philadelphia, but when there was a need for an agent who could tell a Miró from a Manet, Wittman volunteered. ![]()
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