Background
The Kunsthal, designed by Rem Koolhaas in 1992, has no collection of its own and shows temporary exhibitions. For its twentieth anniversary it exhibited in October 2012, for the first time, more than 150 works from the Triton Foundation, the private collection of the Cordia family. At night the building was protected by cameras and an alarm system, without guards on site. A group of Romanian men staying in Rotterdam reconnoitred the building and noticed that an emergency door at the rear could be forced from outside.
What happened
On Tuesday 16 October 2012, at about three in the morning, two men forced the emergency door. They took down seven works that hung close together: Picasso's 'Tête d'Arlequin', two views of London bridges by Monet, Matisse's 'La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune', a portrait of a woman by Gauguin, a self-portrait by Meyer de Haan and Lucian Freud's 'Woman with Eyes Closed'. The alarm went off, but when the security firm and the police arrived a few minutes later, the thieves had vanished with their loot in bags.
Investigation
Camera footage showed the break-in, but the culprits were unrecognisable. The trail led to Romania when the suspects tried to sell the works there. In January 2013 three men were arrested, among them the main suspect, Radu Dogaru. His mother stated that she had first buried the works and then burned them in the stove of her house in Carcaliu to protect her son; she later retracted this. Researchers at the National History Museum in Bucharest found in the ash pigments, nails and remains of canvas consistent with old paintings.
Aftermath & open questions
In November 2013 a Romanian court sentenced Dogaru and a co-defendant to more than six years in prison; others involved, including his mother, received lighter sentences. The culprits were also ordered to pay the insurers 18 million euros. Whether all seven works were really burned has not been established. A 'Picasso' dug up in Romania in 2018 turned out to be a stunt by a theatre company. In the Netherlands the theft led to a debate about the security of museums without night guards.
