Case · Theft

The Bührle Collection Robbery

A Cézanne, a Degas, a Monet and a Van Gogh at gunpoint

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The Bührle Collection Robbery

Image: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

In one of Europe's largest art robberies, armed men walked into the Bührle museum in Zurich in 2008 and took four Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces. Most were recovered within years.

The gunmen forced staff to the floor and seized works by Cézanne, Degas, Monet, and Van Gogh in broad daylight. Two — the Monet and Van Gogh — were found abandoned in a car nearby within days.

The Cézanne, 'Boy in a Red Waistcoat', one of the most valuable paintings ever stolen, was recovered in Serbia in 2012 after a long international investigation.