This Is A Robbery Netflix Documentary: The Real Story, and Where Is Richard Abath Now?
This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist is the latest Netflix docuseries to have viewers fixed to their screens in a mixture of curiosity and amazement.
The series looks at the story behind the 1990 robberies of some of the world’s most famous paintings from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
A total of 13 pieces of artwork were stolen from the museum, totalling a value of 500 million dollars in 2021.
What exactly was stolen?
One of the 13 pieces stolen was Johannes Vermeer’s The Concert from 1664, which is considered by some as the most expensive piece of stolen artwork in the world. It is valued at 250 million dollars today.
Two paintings by Rembrandt were also stolen – Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee and A Lady and Gentlemen in Black – as well as a self-portrait by the Dutchman.
What wasn’t stolen, however, was perhaps the highest value piece in the museum – Titian’s The Rape of Europa.
Who carried out the theft?
The identities of either of the two robbers who broke into the museum that night have never been revealed, with their tracks seemingly all covered. An FBI investigation has never found them.
How did they do it?
The two robbers spent a total of 81 minutes in the museum after posing as police officers to gain entrance.
They gained access to the museum through security guard Richard Abath, who was gagged and locked in the basement during the crime.
Theories suggest that Abath may have been in on the act, letting the robbers in on purpose, though that lead has never been followed up on.
Where is Abath now?
Now in his 50s, Abath lives in Vermont with his wife Diana and two children. He started a job as a teaching assistant after graduating from college in 2010.
