ABOUT THE STOLEN ART

EDGAR DEGAS - LEAVING THE PADDOCK, 19TH CENTURY

Watercolor and pencil on paper, 10.5 x 16 cm (4 1/8 x 6 5/16 in.)

Perhaps the most important of the stolen Degas is a small watercolor which shows two horses and their jockeys lining up and being led into the track, surrounded by bystanders — quite a crowd for a picture only about 4-by-6 inches. Fascinating changes of position are evident from the still visible pencil drawing. The vibrant brown-orange jacket and cap of the jockey closest to the viewer, in a drawing mainly brown except for  the whites of the jockeys’ britches, is the major focus of our attention.

ABOUT THE COLLECTION

On March 18, 1990 at 1:24AM, two men dressed as police officers walked into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 81 minutes later they walked out with $500 million worth of artwork (today’s value). They forced the night guards into the basement, and duct-taped their hands, eyes, and ankles. The guards were not discovered until the new shift came to relieve them around 8 am. When the police examined the gallery, they noticed that the missing paintings had been cut from the frames, instead of carefully removed. None of the pieces have ever been recovered.

13 pieces were stolen from the museum. The value of the pieces makes this the biggest art theft in the history. The museum is offering $10 million in reward money for information leading to the recovery of the stolen items. Now each piece will live forever inscribed on Bitcoin.

This Lot Includes:

Inscription #818056

• 1 of 1

NO RESERVE

Join the Ord City Discord server for auction updates, commentary, and sat giveaways.

Submit your Ordinal Inscription to be considered for auction here or list for a fixed price in our Inscription marketplace here.