Early in the morning of 16th October 2012, [...] Mehmet Karadurdu and Jordy Rook are driving through a rainy Rotterdam on their inspection rounds of the various companies that buy into Trigion’s services. At 03:20 they get a call from the control room. A burglar alarm has gone off at the Kunsthal on the Westzeedijk. Their PDAs show them the quickest route to the building. When they arrive eleven minutes later, the police are already on the scene. It had taken the officers just five minutes to get to the Kunsthal.
The Kunsthal is a labyrinthine building full of glass partitions, which signalled architect Rem Koolhaas’s international breakthrough. It is constructed so that some of the works are visible from the outside, like a kind of showroom. When they arrived, the policemen walked around the outside of the eccentric building. They didn’t notice that any of the paintings were missing. They were primarily looking for signs that would point to a break-in. There aren’t any, they tell the newly-arrived Trigion security guards. The officers ask whether they need to stay. No, if there are no signs of a break-in, they can go, the guards tell them. Nine times out of time it’s just a false alarm.
When Karadurdu and Rook enter the Kunsthal, the security system’s control panel tells them that various alarms have been activated in exhibition space 1 where for the past ten days 150 pieces from the Triton collection have been hanging. They try to turn off the alarms but don’t succeed. When they take a look in the room, the alarm on the rear emergency exit is blaring out.
The guards turn on the lights. They see the empty spots on the wall, the hooks and wires where artworks should hang. Continue reading from NRC
Rotterdam Art Thieves Take Valuable Paintings in Dawn Heist (The Guardian)
Big Art Heist at Dutch Museum (USA Today)
Rotterdam Museum Shuts Down After Seven Paintings are Stolen Overnight (The New York Times)
Dutch Art Heist Museum Says Security System in Order (Reuters)
Three Romanians Plead Guilty in 2012 Rotterdam Art Theft (Los Angeles Times)
Rotterdam Art Heist: Stolen Masterpieces Likely Incinerated (ABC News)
6 Years After Museum Heist, Missing Picasso Possibly Found in Romania (NPR)
Recovery of Picasso Stolen From Dutch Museum Revealed as a Hoax (Artsy)
