Primavera - $95.00

by Sandro Botticelli

Some artworks narrowly escaped plundering.  The Uffizi Gallery in Florence hid most of its major masterpieces in various castles and villas in the surrounding Tuscan countryside, many at the Villa Montegufoni outside of Florence.  As German troops finally retreated in 1943, the Uffizi librarian arrived at the villa, horrified to find many of the crates pried open, and some works taken.  But the Germans must have been in a hurry, as most of the major prizes remained intact in their cases, including this huge Botticelli masterpiece, which measures 7 feet by 10 feet.

This puzzle contains an extra credit bonus problem; can you create the Celtic knot in the photo?

We also offer an Extra-Large version (681 pieces, $145) of this puzzle here.

Dimensions: 18.75"x11.75"
Size: Large (Standard)
512 pieces

Berlin Street Scene - $95.00

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1913.

Kirchner was labeled a degenerate artist by the Nazis in the 1930s, and over 600 of his works were destroyed.  Jewish shoe manufacturer Alfred Hess acquired this painting before the Nazis came to power, and the Hess collection was safely shipped to Zurich in 1933.  The Gestapo later forced the family to return it to Germany, where it was “repatriated” to a German owner, and it was subsequently given to a German museum.  In 2004 the Hess heirs successfully sued for restitution, and the painting sold at auction for $38 million.

Dimensions: 12.75"x17.50"
Size: Large (Standard)
496 pieces

The Rape of Europa - $95.00

by Titian, 1562.

One of the great mysteries of the Gardner heist is why this masterpiece was not stolen.  Here the minor goddess Europa is seduced and abducted by Zeus in the form of a bull, and he takes her on his back into the water.  Some cupids join the chase, and several figures on the shore cheer on the merry procession.  Later, when the enamored pair arrives at Crete, he reveals that he is, in fact, king of the gods, and she becomes the first queen of Crete. The painting has been called "arguably the greatest painting in America.”  Upon receipt of the painting in 1896, Isabella Stewart Gardner wrote, “I am breathless after a two days’ orgy, drinking myself drunk with Europa, thinking and dreaming about her.”  It currently hangs at the Gardner Museum.

The Gardner Museum Heist (including interviews)

Dimensions: 15.75"x13.75"
Size: Large (Standard)
517 pieces

View of Krumau - $95.00

by Egon Schiele, 1916.

Sometimes called Schiele's greatest painting, this work was stolen from its Jewish owners by Nazi police in 1938 and subsequently sold, and it ended up in a museum in Linz, Austria.  It remained there for several decades until the movement to restore art stolen by the Nazis became widespread, and the museum finally relented and returned the painting.  The heirs of the original owner sold the painting at auction in 2003 for $12.6 million.

Dimensions: 16.00"x12.75"
Size: Large (Standard)
508 pieces

Street in Tahiti (Chemin a Papeete) - $95.00

Street in Tahiti (Chemin a Papeete), Paul Gaugin, 1891

Many works have a murky history during the war years.  In this case Martha Nathan, the German-Jewish heiress of a substantial art collection, was forced to flee to France in 1937.  She was not allowed to take her paintings because of their ‘national value’.  Allegedly under duress, she subsequently was “allowed” to sell this Gauguin to a Paris art dealer, who in turn sold it to the Toledo Art Museum (Ohio) in 1939.  In 2004 Nathan’s heirs  brought a claim of restitution against the museum, and after several years of legal wrangling the court ruled that the museum had acquired the painting legitimately, and restitution was denied.

Dimensions: 12.75"x17.00"
Size: Large (Standard)
454 pieces

Night Cafe - $95.00

The Night Cafe, Vincent Van Gogh, 1888.

This painting was owned at one time by Russian industrialist and aristocrat Ivan Morozov, but was “nationalized” during the communist revolution in 1918.  It then allegedly somehow ended up in a New York gallery, where it was purchased in the early 1930s by Stephen Clark, who at various times served as board chairman of MoMA and director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Clark, a Yale alumnus, donated it to the school in 1961, and the painting currently hangs at the Yale University Art Gallery.  Yale University recently filed suit to block the claim of a man claiming to be the rightful heir of Morozov.  Yale argues, in part, “Invalidating title to the painting would set U.S. courts at odds with the Russian government and cloud title to... at least $20 billion of art in global commerce.”  The heir contends that Clark knew the painting’s provenance was tainted, and that Yale is engaged in “art laundering.”  The case is currently pending.

Dimensions: 16.25"x12.75"
Size: Large (Standard)
499 pieces

The Concert - $95.00

by Johannes Vermeer, c.1664

This painting was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in March 1990 and remains missing twenty years later. 

The Gardner Museum Heist (including interviews)

Dimensions: 13.75"x15.50"
Size: Large (Standard)
437 pieces

Storm on the Sea of Galilee - $105.00

by Rembrandt Harmenz van Rijn, 1633

Rembrandt's only known seascape, this painting was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in March 1990 and remains missing twenty years later.

The Gardner Museum Heist (including interviews)

Dimensions: 13.75"x17.25"
Size: Large (Standard)
538 pieces

The Scream - $105.00

by Edvard Munch, 1910

This version of Munch's iconic The Scream was stolen at gunpoint from the Munch Museum in Oslo in 2004.  It was later recovered, although it required significant restoration due to damage from its rough handling and storage.

Dimensions: 13.75"x17.75"
Size: Large (Standard)
479 pieces

Poppies Near Vetheuil - $95.00

by Claude Monet

This painting was stolen at gunpoint from the Buehrle Collection in Zurich in 2008, and subsequently recovered, although two other masterpieces stolen in the same heist are still missing.

Dimensions: 16.00"x12.75"
Size: Large (Standard)
433 pieces