Art Crimes Portraits

Art Underworld Operators Placed in an Art Historical Perspective.

My name is Charles Vincent Sabba. I am first and foremost an artist, but I am also a police supervisor. As both an artist and an investigator is to conduct “visual investigations” into the art theft world. I fly around the globe and get notorious art thieves, smugglers, forgers, as well as art theft investigators, to pose for my oil portraits. I want to approach these portrait subjects, not as a police officer, but as an artist who is a trained, professional observer. My work emphasizes that the art world is not always an innocent, pristine place where the world's most honest and esteemed elite operate, but can be a dangerous arena of treachery, crime and fraud. The art arena does indeed have a dangerous underworld and it's most unsavory characters, as well as the investigators that chase them internationally, prove to be it's most interesting players.

I am a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, but when I was very young, a teenager, I studied at my first art school, the enchanting DuCret School of Art in Plainfield, NJ. It was there, back in 1987, that I became intrigued and fascinated by art theft and art crimes. The first thing to inspire me was the work of the NYPD's art theft investigator Bobby Volpe, who I read about in his book The Art Cop which was published in 1972.

At around the same time, I read an article about an Australian artist activist group called ACT, which stood for the Artistic Cultural Terrorists. This group stole a Picasso painting and demanded that the Australian Government reinstate grants and stipends for artists. They threatened to destroy the painting if their demands were not met. The government in the end, of course, did no such thing, and the ACT group left the painting in a locker in a bus terminal then sent a note to the authorities where they could find it. It was uncovered unharmed.

I then read a book that was written in 1966 called the Art Stealers, which was written by the editor/publisher of the magazine Art News. In the first chapter Mr. Esterow attempted to create psychological profiles of art thieves. As far as I know, this is the first and last time this was ever attempted. In reality, we know now that one can not profile an art thief, nor can we ever understand how an art thieve's mind works. These thieves come in many different types and many have deep rooted psychological problems to say the least. I would say on an average, art thieves turn out to be just regular criminals, not devious collectors or art connoisseurs. But this book was very interesting and was unique at the time of its writing (now there are hundreds of books written on the art crimes subject).

Art Stealers by Milton Esterow (the Editor and publisher of Art News magazine).

One thing Bobby Volpe taught me that, although the basics of crime fighting, say a sort of criminal investigations 101, is that in order to out wit the criminal you have to learn to think like one. You really are attempting a difficult task when you try and figure out the criminal mind. Before I became a police officer, I worked as a corrections officer in both the state and federal prison systems. In the Fed, I worked with some of the biggest criminal minds in the world. We had members of all five New York mob families and Philadelphia, we had Muhajadeen fighters from Afghanistan, we had one IRA operative and several Irish Mob guys from Boston who were mainly bank and armored car robbers. We also had two billionaire kingpin bosses. Don Gaetano Badalmente, who I thoroughly enjoyed talking too (he was a strict, old school mafioso from Sicily who lived by his ancient tradition and would not be swayed), and Carlos Lehder, a Columbian kingpin, who I had a very good rapport with. These guys were billionaires; some of the most successful criminals in the world.

Most convicts talk to the guards and try to get friendly with them. It helps to say hello and have a smiling face when you see and greet the guys who have the keys. When they need anything, whether it is extra toilet paper, or to sneak some garlic or pasta in from the kitchen, they need the guard. There are however some old school mob guys who won't say one word to the guard. They will walk by you and ignore you or glare at you. The guard is the heat, the police, and these guys don't want anything to do with them. I had one guy in my unit, he was a big, scary looking Gambino soldier from Long Island who had a big scar on his face, who walked passed me and glared. He was grouchy and mean looking. He would stand outside of the housing unit with other inmates during the ten minute moves and smoke cigarettes. Some of the inmates would throw little bits of food to a rabbit that kept coming around. I think prisoners have a connection to rabbits and rats in that they know those animals can scurry in and out of the double fences as the please. Constantine wire didn't stop the rabbits from running to their freedom (only the haks did!). One day the rabbit didn't show up. After a few days, I heard these inmates express their concern about the rabbits welfare. One day they were in a group outside the door. The scarface mob guy was standing there smoking and looking mean and ruthless. Along comes the rabbit and after he spotted it, he raised his finger and pointed and declared in a rough, tough tone of voice: "there is da little bunny!" I almost had to choke myself to keep from laughing out loud like a hyena! I didn't want to laugh in scarface's face but it was hilarious. I men, if you laugh at a guy like that he might just look you up for a visit after he gets released in twenty to thirty years. Matters how bad you piss him off. Hey boss. I'm gonna visit ya in twenty yea's when I get cut loose from dis joint." "No thanks pal. Don't do me any favors." ;-) Very hard to figure the criminal mind out. Some of these guys have very complicated minds and lives. Some are very intelligent, even quasi genius.

This canvas is 8 feet by 6 feet 8 inches. It depicts many of the suspects, investigators, reporters, etc., who were involved in the Gardner robbery investigation or whose names came. Over the last 24 years since the art heist, the F.B.I. and various other investigators, both private and government, have chased down thousands of leads all over the world. To this day none of the art work has been recovered.

18 March 1990, at 01:24 hrs, after all of the St. Patrick's Day revelry died down, two thugs dressed as Boston PD banged on the side door of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2 Palace Rd, Boston, Mass. They told the two young security guards, who had just started their shift a couple hours prior, that they were investigating a caller complaint of a disturbance and were permitted to enter, which was in direct violation of museum policy. The thugs bound and gagged the guards with duct tape and handcuffed them to pipes in the basement, where, in their relaxed state of minds, one actually managed to get a good nights sleep, reinforcing investigators beliefs that the two were high on marijuana..

The thieves spent almost an hour and a half at work in the museum and stole the only surveillance tape upon their exit. They obviously had prior knowledge that the establishment had only one surveillance tape, and also, that their movements would only set off internal alarms. Although the thieves knew the security was lax, they did not know the collection was uninsurable do to that fact. Professional art thieves like to steal insured works so they can bargain with the insurance company over a payoff.

These criminals were not professional art thieves. Not only did they pass over very valuable works, such as Titian's (Tiziano) Rape of Europa on the third floor, which is arguably one of most valuable paintings in the U.S.A., they brutally cut two Rembrandts out of their frames (Storm on the Sea of Galilee and A Lady and a Gentleman in Black). They tried to steal a 4th Rembrandt but were unsuccessful. The frames were left behind with ragged fragments of canvas (How a thief removes a canvas from its frame poses great problems when he attempts to fence it; the paintings have to eventually be re-stretched and framed. The frames can be as hard to come by as the paintings).

Upon their departure, the villains told the guards that they would be hearing from them (but were never heard from again). This prompted speculation that they believed the paintings were insured and wanted a deal. Such deals are illegal in the U.S., but still occur.

Me and Bobby "The Art Cop" Volpe at the Salmagundi Club in New York. Bobby was my mentor and was Salmagundi's president for three years and was my club membership sponsor.

Bobby Volpe was the NYPD's art theft investigator from 1971 to 1982.

Bobby "The Art Cop" Volpe was an artist and a New York Police Department detective. He worked the famous French Connection investigation that ended up in the demise of a major Corsican heroin operation, then he became the NYPD's art theft / art crimes investigator, and was the United States of America's first art theft investigator.

(Detail) Bobby "The Art Cop" Volpe, 2012, oil on canvas, 24" x 28"

This was my last art theft gig. I was the Consulting Art Loss Director for the major corporate intelligence company Unitel, which is located in New York on Madison Ave. Unitel disbanded its art loss prevention unit in New York and concentrates only on London operations (although it still maintains the appearance of a working unit on its web site).

Scotland Yard, London. 2004.

Vernon Rapley on the right and me on the far left. 2004.

Metropolitan Police Dept's 2004 Art & Antique Crime Coutse at New Scotland Yard, London.

Harold Smith, oil on canvas,2009, 8" x 10", Charles Sabba. Harold Smith was a world renowned art loss adjuster, a strong survivor and a hell of a nice man.

Det Sgt Vernon Rapley of New Scotland Yard, 2011, Oil on canvas

Me and Vernon Rapley in London, 2010.

Detective Sgt Vernon rapley- Previously the head of the Art & Antiques Crime Unit at New Scotland Yard, now the Director of Security of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Vernon posed for this portrait in London, England.

John Myatt: Forger, 2009, Oil on canvas, 8" x 10"

John Myatt: British Forger who became England's greatest artist!John Myatt posed for this portrait in Chichester, United Kingdom.

Me and John Myatt in Chichester, England. 2010.

Michel Van Rijn as the Merry Drinker of Frans Hals, 2010, oil on canvas, 28" x 24"

The notorious antiquities smuggler turned art world crusader, Michel Van Rijn as the Merry Drinker of Frans Hals. Michel posed for my portraits in Amsterdam.

Charles Sabba talking to Myles Connor the notorious art thief.

Myles Connor: New England's most notorious art thief and a suspect in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist in Boston. Myles posed for me in Blackstone, Mass.

In 1014, Connor returned to the jail he escaped from using a gun carved out of a bar of soap. Here Connor shows off that soap gun.

Myles Connor is the most notorious art thief in the U.S. Here is his lengthy criminal record (please keep in mind that for every documentated arrest, there are many crimes a career criminal gets away with):

1964-A sheriff's officer caught Connor stealing Tiffany lamps from an abode on the Maine coast. He got away by pushing the officer down a hill and shooting him. He was later arrested and incarcerated. While doing time for this crime, Connor escaped from prison using a bar of soap that he carved into a realistic looking pistol.

1966- Was arrested after he got into a gunfight with police in which both he and a Mass. State Police captain were shot.

1966- Was arrested in Revere for possession of counterfeit $10 bills and illegal possession of tear gas pens.

1974- Arrested in a major 1973 art theft at the Woolworth family compound in Monmouth, Maine. Connor led undercover agents to dozens of the stolen paintings.

1974- Arrested and convicted for the murder of a Boston police officer. Connor was later acquitted after another cop admitted he was innocent.

1975- Was charged with the robbery of $100,000 at the Norfolk Trust co. in Milton, Mass. Was found not guilty at trial.

1975- Two young 18 year old ladies were stabbed to death after witnessing the murder of two men. One of the murderers, Thomas Sperazza, was arrested and fingered Connor as the man who planned the homicides. Connor was arrested and in 1981 and was convicted. The conviction was overturned in 1984.

1978-Connor was accused of stealing Rembrandt's Portrait of a Girl, Wearing A Gold Trimmed Cloak from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts ( across the street from the Gardner). Made a deal to avoid prison time for the Woolworth Compound job by "brokering" the return of this painting.

1990- Convicted on a federal charge for stealing several paintings from the Mead Museum at Amherst College in 1975.

March 2005- Was arrested for stealing four watches worth $900 from H. Brandt Jewelers in Natick.

Connor's father was a police officer in Milton. Mass., who collected antique weapons. Myles carried on this love by collecting Samurai swords. His mother painted and wrote poetry. One of his brothers was also a police officer and another was a Roman Catholic priest.

Connor was the lead singer in the early 60s in the band Myles and the Wild Ones. They opened for Sha-Na-Na and played with Roy Orbinson on several occasions.

He is 5'7", a master of disguises, claims to be an expert of Karate, a member of MENSA, and is an arm chair art connoisseur who Time magazine once wrote could run Sothebys or Christies. He is known to have spent many hours in jail cells devouring art books and once stated that all museums are vulnerable to a true pro. He admits to more than 30 art thefts in 20 years and is known to sit on paintings as long as 15 years.

He is a master at using art as a successful bargaining chip to secure immunity from prison, or extort secret ransoms from insurers. In 1975, he arranged the return of a Rembrandt for a lighter sentence. the Rembrandt was worth $1 million at the time. Connor's young friend, William Youngworth II, claims he stole the painting as a juvenile at the behest of Connor to help him with his legal problems. Youngworth studied Karate with Connor.

Connor is a seasoned convict who has had alot of experience in the joint. While incarcerated in the 70s he served as chief negotiator of a prison standoff. As previously noted, he once escaped from prison with a bar of soap he carved into a pistol.

Connor claimed he could get the Gardner loot back, but wanted to get released from federal prison, as well as receive the cash reward. He denied stealing the works, but claims other criminals used his plan.

Some investigators suspected him of masterminding the heist from behind bars, but Connor denies this. Connor stated that he would have certainly taken Titian's Rape of Europa and other more valuable works.

Connor is known to have committed burglaries dressed as a police officer in the past.

He claims to have cased the museum back in 1974 with a friend named Bobby Donati. Donati (a mob button) and Connor discussed the possibility of a heist and knew it was an easy target. Connor claims he abandoned the idea and started concentrating on the Boston MFA across the street instead.

Connor claims Donati and a guy named David Houghton carried out the Gardner plan without his knowledge while he was locked up. Donati was found dead in a trunk with multiple stab wounds a year after the heist. Houghton died in 1992.

Connor has recently sold his story rights to Mandalay Pictures for a book and movie. He expects to be employed as a consultant when filming begins.

In March of 2005, Connor, now 62, was charged with larceny, being an accessory after the fact, receiving stolen property, conspiracy to commit robbery, and being an habitual offender. Connor was acting as a wheel man as his girlfriend's brother, John King, 36 yrs old, stole four watches from H. Brandt Jewelers in Natick. The watches were valued at $900. The two fled the scene, but were stopped by a rookie cop on his first day on the job who was riding with a training partner. They were both placed in the Middlesex County Jail.