Thieves stole a Chagall painting from a famous Manhattan gallery: it’s worth $100,000
The police are trying to track down a group of painting thieves from a gallery located in the center of Manhattan. Thieves stole a painting by Marc Chagall worth $100 thousand, the robbery was caught on camera. NBC New York reported in more detail.
The crime was captured by Charles Saffati, owner of the Carlton Fine Arts gallery, who said the group parked on 55th Street and one of them walked down the block. According to him, he took out a hammer and broke one of the glass front doors.
“He came in here. He took the painting off the easel. Chagall “Eva”. This is a $100,000 job,” Saffati said.
“Eve” is the name of a work of art, one of the few in the world, created by Marc Chagall.
“The three greatest masters of the 20th century were: Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and John Miro,” Saffati said.
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Marc Chagall is a Belarusian and French avant-garde artist and graphic artist of Jewish origin. Born in Belarus in the small town of Lioznaya in the Vitebsk region (Belarus). He received a scholarship to study and moved to France. In the French capital, he met avant-garde artists and poets. Chagall fell in love with Paris immediately, calling it “the second Vitebsk.”
When the alleged thieves broke into a famous art gallery, they were unaware that their escape was being recorded by nearby cameras.
Their escape attempt was less than ideal: They tried to stuff the expensive piece of art into the back seat of a 1996 Honda Accord that had fallen on hard times while rain fell on the artwork. Detectives said the vehicle had damage to the front passenger side and the rear wheel hub was missing.
“They put him in the back seat of the car and drove off, turning onto 57th Street,” Saffati said.
Police are trying to identify the man in the gray cap seen in the video, as well as the man with the umbrella and the driver of the Accord.
The gallery has been in business since the 1960s and the owner was shocked by a robbery in an upscale area.
“Saint Regis is in the next block, there is a Palace Hotel. There is a Peninsula Hotel. It’s a very upscale area,” he said. – Trump Tower is two blocks away. There are also a lot of police in this area, so they must be very brazen to come and do something like that.”
Saffati introduced additional security to the detriment of the company’s profits.
“We had to install a new storefront. We ended up installing security glass and had to update the alarm system. We have added 24-hour armed security. This is a huge expense for us,” he said. – This is unacceptable. This is Madison Avenue, we need protection. We have the best police in the world, but their hands are tied.”
The incident is being investigated by the NYPD’s Major Crime Unit. Anyone with information about the thieves, the artwork or the getaway vehicle is asked to contact the NYPD immediately.