Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Dead-ends to the Gardner 13

Summary: The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser has four suspects from many dead-ends in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft March 18, 1990, in Massachusetts.

sketch of two suspects, disguised as police officers, who gained entry into Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for purposes of art theft, Sunday, March 18, 1990: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Public Domain, via FBI Art Crime Team

Ulrich Boser assembles the known information sources and the leading suspect lists, as of 2009, for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft March 18, 1990, in one book, The Gardner Heist.

The author of The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft benefits from knowing one of the world's best independent fine arts claims adjusters. The book's 13 chapters correlate the 13 missing artworks with leads and observations from art sleuth Harold Smith's (Feb. 7, 1926-Feb. 19, 2005) surviving case files. They describe two suspected perpetrators but do not designate the present possessors or whereabouts of one beaker, one etching, one finial, five drawings and five paintings. The $500 million-estimated, zero-insured art theft in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, exasperates all investigators with its abundant, dead-end leads and its non-existent physical evidence.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 1990 art theft's two suspects disguised as police officers: Stilled Lives, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikispaces

The author finds comfortable fits for two composite sketches by Boston Police Department artist Neville of one heavier, mustached, younger suspect and one leaner, mustached older. Boser gives George Albert Reissfelder Jr. (Feb. 22, 1940-April 11, 1991) as likeliest suspect for the 5-foot-7- to 5-foot-10-inch- (1.70- to 1.78-meter-) tall, gold rim-bespectacled perpetrator. He has David Allen Turner as likeliest for the other almond-eyed, policeman-disguised, 6-foot- to 6-foot-1-inch- (1.83- to 1.85-meter-) tall, 180- to 200-pound (81.65- to 90.72-kilogram) perpetrator.

The sketches, whose Turner likeness a passerby indicated, incorporated observations by third-shift security guards Ray Abell, with inconclusive polygraph tests, and Ralph Helman, with non-incriminating results. The sketch and a Turner photograph joggled Jerry Stratberg's memories of two policemen in a gray hatchback just before the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft.

The Gardner Heist's author Ulrich Boser refers to Richard Edward Abath (May 24, 1966-Feb. 23, 2024) under the pseudonym of Ray Abell, as explained in "The Investigation" on Kerry Joyce's Gardner Museum Heist Blog; photograph by Matthew Cavanaugh for The Boston Globe: The Boston Globe, via Facebook Aug. 6, 2015

No investigator definitively knows the perpetrators' identities since crime-scene inventories keep 12 unmatched fingerprints as the only physical evidence from the basement, entry and second-floor levels. Motion detector records on hard drives and sequenced fallen frames link theft times in the Dutch Room, Short Gallery and security director Lyle W. Grindle's office. Absent fingerprints, altered appearances, non-existent deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), stolen footage and stressed eyewitnesses mandate recovery of the missing Gardner 13 through confessions, searches, tails and tips.

Boser, reporter turned senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., notes damages to artworks and dangers to controllers, informants, investigators and suspects.

Conservator Gianfranco Pocobene observed that cutting, dropping, handling the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft paintings obtained irreversible harm from which "you'll always see that damage."

thirteen artworks removed from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum during Sunday, March 18, 1990 art theft: Public Domain, via FBI Art Crime Team

Boser, Open Case founding editor, presents among dead suspected informants Robert Donati (June 4, 1940-Sept. 21, 1991?) and Charles O. Pappas (Oct. 26, 1968-Nov. 22, 1995). Robert Guarente (Dec. 29, 1939-Jan. 25, 2004) and Carmello Merlino (June 21, 1934-Dec. 4, 2005) qualify as dead suspected controllers of Connecticut-, Maine-, Massachusetts-, Pennsylvania-circulated artworks. Boser, U.S. News & World Report former contributing editor, reveals, "no one had ever come forward about the lost masterpieces - they had all been murdered." Only Myles Connor Jr., Robert Gentile, David Turner and William Youngworth III survive as possible information sources since the author scuttled Irish and Whitey Bulger involvements.

Like Harold Smith, London insurance adjuster Mark Dalrymple tends toward amnesty and reward as recovery incentives since "these things are nicked for money. They're long-term players."

The Gardner Heist's author Ulrich Boser is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), headquartered in Washington DC; Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, 12:11:13: Center for American Progress, CC BY ND 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

sketch of two suspects, disguised as police officers, who gained entry into Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for purposes of art theft, Sunday, March 18, 1990: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Public Domain, via FBI Art Crime Team @ https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/5-million-reward-offered-for-return-of-stolen-gardner-museum-artwork

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 1990 art theft's two suspects disguised as police officers: Stilled Lives, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikispaces @ http://stilledlives.wikispaces.com/suspects

The Gardner Heist's author Ulrich Boser refers to Richard Edward Abath (May 24, 1966-Feb. 23, 2024) under the pseudonym of Ray Abell, as explained in "The Investigation" on Kerry Joyce's Gardner Museum Heist Blog; photograph by Matthew Cavanaugh for The Boston Globe: The Boston Globe, via Facebook Aug. 6, 2015, @ https://www.facebook.com/globe/posts/just-who-is-richard-abath-why-do-many-believe-he-played-a-role-in-the-isabella-s/10153576820853258/; Kerry Joyce, "The Investigation," via Gardner Museum Heist Blog @ http://gardnerheist.com/investigation.html

thirteen artworks removed from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum during Sunday, March 18, 1990 art theft: Public Domain, via FBI Art Crime Team @ https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/5-million-reward-offered-for-return-of-stolen-gardner-museum-artwork

The Gardner Heist's author Ulrich Boser is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), headquartered in Washington DC; Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, 12:11:13: Center for American Progress, CC BY ND 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/americanprogress/5370951490/

For further information:

Boser, Ulrich. 2009. The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft. New York NY: HarperCollins.

"The Gardner Heist." Ulrich Boser.com > Books.
Available @ http://ulrichboser.com/books/gardner-heist/

Sabba, Charles. 14 February 2014. "Art Crimes Portraits: Gardners Gossips Lecture 2013. Gardner Heist Gossips Blogspot.
Available @ http://gardnerheistgossips.blogspot.com/

Wendy Siefken @WendyandCharles. "ReadersGazette: RT zedign: #Book: The Gardner Heist: The True Story Of The World’S Largest Unsolved Art Theft." Twitter. April 5, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/WendyandCharles/status/717489284274630657

Stephen C. Foster State Park Offers Darkened Southern Georgia Skies

Summary: Stephen C. Foster State Park, located in the Okefenokee Swamp, offers darkened southern Georgia skies as Georgia’s first International Dark Sky Park.

Georgia’s Stephen C. Foster State Park lies at the western edge of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge; the refuge’s lightless expanse (lower right) noticeably darkens landscape northwest of Jacksonville, northeastern Florida; “Southeastern USA at Night,” Expedition Crew 30’s digital camera photograph taken Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, from International Space Station: NASA, Public Domain, via NASA Observatory

Located in the Okefenokee Swamp, remote Stephen C. Foster State Park treats visitors to starry, darkened southern Georgia skies as Georgia’s first International Dark Sky Association-designated International Dark Sky Park.

Stephen C. Foster State Park’s schedule of events  includes astronomy programs. The winter season 2016-2017 schedule began in mid-December 2016 and ran through early March 2017. Stargazing events offered by the small park include Paddler Under the Stars and Swamper’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Winter season 2016-2017 offered seven Paddle Under the Stars events. Starry paddles were offered twice monthly from Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, through Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017. Winter season 2016-2017 finished Saturday, March 4, 2017, with the most recent Paddle Under the Stars. The ranger-guided, two-hour paddle through Okefenokee Swamp takes in wildlife, such as American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), and wonders of darkened night skies, such as the Milky Way. The starry paddles begin at the marina next to the park’s Trading Post.

Swamper’s Guide to the Galaxy took place twice monthly in December 2016 and January 2017. The hour-long program features naked eye and telescopic astronomy for observing the moon and scouting meteors, planets and stars in the state park’s darkened skies. The park’s assets include 8-inch and 10-inch telescopes. Swamper’s Guide to the Galaxy begins at the Trading Post parking lot.

On Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, J. Scott Feierabend, the International Dark Sky Association’s executive director, announced accreditation of Stephen C. Foster State Park as Georgia’s first International Dark Sky Park. Based in Tucson, Arizona, the International Dark Sky Association aims to conserve and protect the world’s darkened skies through the association’s Dark Sky Places program. The program comprises five designations: International Dark Sky Communities, International Dark Sky Parks, International Dark Sky Reserves, International Dark Sky Sanctuaries and Dark Sky Developments of Distinction.

IDA’s executive director noted the significance of the park’s designation. “Stephen C. Foster’s accomplishment is a big win for the American Southeast,” J. Scott Feierabend stated in the IDA news release. “Given that such little natural darkness remains in the eastern United States, we are especially pleased to make today’s announcement.”

Preparatory to applying for IDA designation, Stephen C. Foster State Park staff removed 13 street lights and transitioned from bumps to directional LED lighting. In tandem with the local electrical co-op, the staff installed downward-shining lighting as well as motion-activated sensors on cabin outdoor lighting.

Stephen C. Foster State Park comprises only 80 acres (32 hectares; 0.32 square kilometers; 0.125 square miles) in the extensive surround of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge encompasses 402,000 acres (162,683.628 hectares; 1,627 square kilometers; 628.125 square miles).

Stephen C. Foster State Park serves as one of three main entrances to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The entrance is managed cooperatively between Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

On Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016, Stephen C. Foster State Park celebrated its designation as an International Dark Sky Park. Stargazing in Okefenokee Swamp followed the celebratory ceremony. The moon, cooperatively in its waxing gibbous phase, allowed for detailed views of its craters. The darkened skies’ star-studded lineup included Earth’s neighboring planets of Mars and Venus as well as Polaris the North Star and night’s fifth brightest star, blue-white Vega in the constellation of Lyra the Harp.

The takeaway for Stephen C. Foster State Park as a small park with a prestigious designation, as of November 2016, is the excellent stargazing plentifully available under the park’s darkened southern Georgia skies.

Contact details:
Stephen C. Foster State Park
17515 Highway 177
Fargo, Georgia 31631

event phone: (912) 637-5274

website: http://gastateparks.org/StephenCFoster

hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Because of the park’s location within a National Wildlife Refuge, gates are locked at closing. No late access is allowed.

Milky Way illuminates the optimally dark skies over Georgia's starry Stephen C. Foster State Park; image ca. 2013 by Rena Johnson: Stephen C. Foster State Park, via Facebook July 3, 2014

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Georgia’s Stephen C. Foster State Park lies at the western edge of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge; the refuge’s lightless expanse noticeably darkens landscape northwest of Jacksonville, northeastern Florida; “Southeastern USA at Night,” Expedition Crew 30’s digital camera photograph taken Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, from International Space Station: NASA, Public Domain, via NASA Observatory @ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77146&src=flickr

Milky Way illuminates the optimally dark skies over Georgia's starry Stephen C. Foster State Park; image ca. 2013 by Rena Johnson: Stephen C. Foster State Park, via Facebook July 3, 2014, @ https://www.facebook.com/StephenCFosterStatePark/posts/669671086421699; via Facebook July 3, 2014, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=669671086421699&set=a.491095510945925; via Facebook July 3, 2014, @ https://www.facebook.com/StephenCFosterStatePark/photos/pb.100082158746247.-2207520000/669671086421699/; via Facebook Sep. 26, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/StephenCFosterStatePark/photos/pb.100082158746247.-2207520000/546209932101149/; via Facebook Sep. 26, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/StephenCFosterStatePark/posts/546209932101149/

For further information:

“Dark Sky Celebration Astronomy Program.” Georgia State Parks > Events > Archive.
Available @ http://gastateparks.org/event/245687?c=13024159

The International Dark-Sky Association. Fighting Light Pollution: Smart Lighting Solutions for Individuals and Communities. Mechanicsburg PA: Stackpole Books, 2012.

Marriner, Derdriu. “Australia and Eurasia Have 11 International Dark Sky Parks for Starers.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/australia-and-eurasia-have-11.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Big Cypress National Preserve Night Sky Outing, Saturday, March 25." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, March 22, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/2017-big-cypress-national-preserve.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Gabriela Mistral Dark Sky Sanctuary Marks First IDSS Anniversary.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/08/gabriela-mistral-dark-sky-sanctuary.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Star-Filled Four Corners States Claim 16 International Dark Sky Parks.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016.
Available @ http://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/star-filled-four-corners-states-claim.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “United States Has 30 International Dark Sky Parks as of October 2016.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016.
Available @ http://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/united-states-has-30-international-dark.html

“Stephen C. Foster State Park (West).” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service > National Wildlife Refuges > Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Georgia > Visit > Plan Your Visit.
Available @ https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Okefenokee/visit/plan_your_visit.html

“Stephen C. Foster State Park.” International Dark-Sky Association > International Dark Sky Places > International Dark Sky Parks.
Available @ http://darksky.org/idsp/parks/stephen-c-foster-state-park/

“Stephen C. Foster State Park Named Among World’s Best Star-Gazing Locations.” Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites > Information.
Available @ http://gastateparks.org/info/246529

“Stephen C. Foster State Park Named First International Dark Sky Park in Georgia (U.S.).” International Dark-Sky Association > Dark Sky Places. Nov. 9, 2016.
Available @ http://darksky.org/stephen-c-foster-state-park-named-first-international-dark-sky-park-in-georgia-u-s/

Fidelio Is April 1, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The April 1, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Fidelio, a music drama that rates as Ludwig van Beethoven’s only opera.

Adrianne Pieczonka appears as Leonore, who disguises herself as errand boy Fidelio in order to rescue her imprisoned husband, in the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Beethoven's Fidelio: Adrianne Pieczonka @pieczonka_a, via Twitter March 9, 2017

Fidelio, a two-act German music drama representing the only opera by German composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven (bapt. Dec. 17, 1770-March 26, 1827), is the April 1, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Beethoven’s two-act opera exemplifies a form of German music drama known as Singspiel (“sing-play”), pluralized as Singspiele. As with the French tradition of operas comiques (“comic operas”), Singspiele mingle spoken dialogue with instrumental and vocal music.

Austrian librettist Joseph Ferdinand Sonnleithner (March 3, 1766-Dec. 25, 1835) wrote the German libretto for Beethoven’s only opera. The libretto’s literary source is a French libretto, Léonore, ou L’Amour Conjugal, by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly (Jan. 24, 1763-April 14, 1842). Bouilly retired from his career as a French Revolution-era (May 5, 1789-Nov. 9, 1799) administrator and politician to concentrate on librettos and plays.

Bouilly’s libretto inspired a two-act opera by French operatic tenor and composer Pierre Gaveaux (Oct. 9, 1761-Feb. 5, 1825). Gaveaux’s opera premiered Feb. 19, 1798 at the now-defunct, neoclassical-styled Théâtre Feydeau in Paris’s second arrondissement (2e arrondissement de Paris).

Beethoven’s score, with Sonnleithner’s libretto, premiered Nov. 20, 1805, as a three-act opera entitled Leonore, oder Der Triumph der ehelichen Liebe ("Leonore, or The Triumph of Married Love"). The venue was the Empire-styled Theater an der Wien (“Theatre on the Banks of the Wien River”) in Vienna, northeastern Austria.

Theater an der Wien billed the opera as Fidelio to distinguish Beethoven’s version from Gaveaux’s opera as well as from Leonora ossia L’Amore Coniugale (“Leonora or Conjugal Love”) by Italian opera and oratorio composer Ferdinando Paer (July 1, 1771-May 3, 1839). Italian librettist Giovanni Schmidt (ca. 1775-ca. after 1839) based his two-act, Italian libretto upon Bouilly’s French libretto. Paer’s Leonora premiered Oct. 3, 1804, at the Kleines Kurfürstliches Theater in Dresden, Saxony, east central Germany.

Beethoven’s opera underwent two major revisions. In 1806, Beethoven shortened the title of the published libretto to Leonore and, in collaboration with German librettist Stephan von Breuning (Aug. 17, 1774-June 4, 1827), shortened the libretto to two acts. In 1814, German librettist Georg Friedrich Treitschke (Aug. 29, 1776-June 4, 1842) finessed the libretto.

Theater an der Wien has persisted as the title of Beethoven’s unique opera. Current convention recognizes both the 1805 three-act original and the 1806 two-act revision as Leonore. Fidelio distinguishes the final 1814 revision.

Fidelio’s setting is the late 18th century. The drama unfolds at a Spanish state prison a few miles from Seville in southern Spain. This season’s Metropolitan Opera production places Fidelio in an unspecified contemporary setting.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of Fidelio begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (5 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 2 hours 33 minutes.

The opera, sung in the original German, comprises two acts and one intermission.

Act I is timed for 73 minutes. A 33-minute intermission succeeds Act I.

Act II is timed for 47 minutes. The opera ends with Act II’s final notes.

Sebastian Weigle conducts all of the Metropolitan Opera’s performances of Fidelio. His birthplace is Berlin, northeastern Germany. The German conductor debuted in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2000 production of Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). This season Sebastian Weigle also conducts Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949).

Adrianne Pieczonka appears as Leonore, who disguises herself as errand boy Fidelio to access her husband Florestan. She was born in Burlington, southern Ontario, east central Canada. The Canadian soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004 as Lisa in The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893).

Klaus Florian Vogt appears as Florestan, Leonore’s politically imprisoned husband. His birthplace is Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, northernmost Germany. The German operatic tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006 in the title role of Lohengrin by Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

Falk Struckmann appears as the jailer, Rocco. He was born in Heilbronn, northern Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. The German operatic bass-baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1997 in the title role of Wozzeck by Austrian composer Alban Berg (Feb. 9, 1885-Dec. 24, 1935).

Hanna-Elisabeth Müller debuts at the Metropolitan Opera this season as Rocco’s daughter, Marzelline, who is infatuated with Leonore in her guise as Fidelio. The German soprano’s birthplace is Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany.

David Portillo appears as Rocco’s assistant, Jaquino, who is in love with the jailer’s daughter. The American tenor was born in San Antonio, Texas.

Greer Grimsley appears as Don Pizarro, governor of the prison in which he has secretly imprisoned his enemy, Florestan. His birthplace is New Orleans, southeastern Louisiana. The American bass-baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1994 as Captain Balstrode in Peter Grimes by Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (Nov. 22, 1913-Dec. 4, 1976). This season Greer Grimsley also appears as Jochanaan in Richard Strauss’s Salome.

Günther Groissböck appears as Don Fernando, the King’s minister who frees Florestan and imprisons Don Pizarro. He was born in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Lower Austria, northeastern Austria. The Austrian bass debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010 as Colline in La Bohème by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). This season Günther Groissböck also appears as Baron Ochs in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier.

Günther Groissböck shares the role of Don Fernando with American bass-baritone opera singer James Morris this season. Born in Baltimore, north central Maryland, James Morris debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1971 as the King in Aida by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). This season James Morris also appears as Ramfis in Aida.

Operabase, an online database, finds that, in the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16, Ludwig van Beethoven, composer of one single opera, placed 27th in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers. Beethoven’s single opera, Fidelio, places at 37, with 560 performances worldwide, in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The takeaway for Fidelio as the April 1, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is the musical and thematic appeal of Ludwig van Beethoven’s solitary contribution to the opera repertoire.

Leonore (Adrianne Pieczonka) and her politically imprisoned husband, Florestan (Klaus Florian Vogt) in Beethoven's Fidelio: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter March 20, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Adrianne Pieczonka appears as Leonore, who disguises herself as errand boy Fidelio in order to rescue her imprisoned husband, in the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Beethoven's Fidelio: Adrianne Pieczonka @pieczonka_a, via Twitter March 9, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/pieczonka_a/status/839886270914572288

Leonore (Adrianne Pieczonka) and her politically imprisoned husband, Florestan (Klaus Florian Vogt) in Beethoven's Fidelio: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter March 20, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/843846676813176832

For further information:

Adrianne Pieczonka @pieczonka_a. "Having fun as Leonore in rehearsal for Fidelio @MetOpera. Wonderful cast and crew in sunny NY!" Twitter. March 9, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/pieczonka_a/status/839886270914572288

Bouilly, Jean-Nicolas. Léonore, ou L’Amour Conjugal, Fait Historique, en Deux Actes et en Prose Melée de Chants. Paroles de J.N. Bouilly, Musique de P. Gaveaux, Représentée Pour la Première Fois à Paris, sur le Théâtre Feydeau, le Ier Ventôse, an 6e de la République Française. Paris, France: Barba, An Septième (1798).
Available via Gallica -- The BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Digital Library @ http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k849780.pdf
Available via Project Gutenberg @ http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24546/24546-h/24546-h.htm

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

“Debut: Greer Grimsley.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 318860 Peter Grimes {56} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/23/1994.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=318860

Metropolitan Opera. "The 2016-17 Live in HD Season." YouTube. July 11, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEUgcdapvKg

Metropolitan Opera. “Fidelio: ‘Gott! Welch’ Dunkel hier!’” YouTube. March 15, 2017. Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S8KiFOwyUs

Metropolitan Opera. “Fidelio: ‘Ich folg’ dem innern Triebe.’” YouTube. March 16, 2017. Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI8dL_duzo0

Metropolitan Opera. “Fidelio: ‘Nur hurtig fort, nur frisch gegraben.’” YouTube. March 15, 2017. Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA89ZZRzc0M

Metropolitan Opera. “Fidelio: ‘O namenlose Freude!’” YouTube. March 15, 2017. Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV_kFB7LtDE

Metropolitan Opera. “Fidelio: ‘O namenlose Freude!’ (Part 2).” YouTube. March 15, 2017. Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNUqJt5oROc

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "'Spruce and Taut, the Met Opera’s ‘Fidelio’ Looks Good at 17' http://nyti.ms/2ns2VFj #Fidelio is on stage tonight, 3/20." Twitter. March 20, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/843846676813176832

“Noble Woman.” The Metropolitan Opera > Discover > Articles > Interviews. Feb. 23, 2017.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/Discover/Articles/Interviews/noble-woman/

Containerized and Courtyard Americanized Purslane Gardens

Summary: Native prostrate pigweed and native, non-native and ornamental purslanes tend to tiptoe through containerized and courtyard Americanized purslane gardens.

purslane flowers, leaves and stems; eastern Bulky Dump Peninsula, southern Sand Island, Midway Atoll; Monday, June 2, 2008, 10:56; image 080602-5375: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Americanized purslane gardens assemble herbaceous purslanes in the Portulaceae family, including ornamental miner's lettuce, moss rose, portulaca and pygmyroot and weedy pink baby's breath, also known as jewels of Opar, and purslane.

Purslane, nicknamed duckweed, garden purslane, little hogweed, low pigweed, pusley and wild portulaca, bears weed status in North America despite inclusion in Massachusetts gardens since 1672. Arizona calls purslane an unwelcome weed, classified by Råsholt-born Swedish botanist Carl Linneaus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778) and introduced from northern Africa and southern Europe. Richard Dickinson, in Weeds of North America, University of Chicago Press publication from 2014, describes purslane's shade-intolerant weediness in flower beds, home gardens and row crops.

Stored photosynthates enable purslane, scientifically named Portulaca oleracea (kitchen vegetable-like little door or kitchen vegetable-like milk-carrier) to effectuate rooted, seeding stem fragments and rootless seed production.

Oblong, red, succulent, 0.08- to 0.39-inch- (2- to 10-millimeter-) long, 0.04- to 0.08-inch- (1- to 2-millimeter-) wide embryonic leaves called cotyledons fit onto red, succulent stems.

The cotyledons give way to oval, paired, 0.16- to 1.10-inch- (4- to 28-millimeter-) long, 0.08- to 0.79-inch- (2- to 20-millimeter-) wide leaves growing alternately along stems. In a reversal of the first non-embryonic leaves, purslane's mature foliage hints of alternate arrangements but holds to opposite placements on branched, hairless, red, succulent stems. Its hairless, oval to wedge-shaped, succulent, 0.16- to 1.10-inch (4- to 28-millimeter) lengths and 0.08- to 0.79-inch (2- to 20-millimeter) widths inspire crowded ends of branches.

Healthy leaves dramatically juggle green upper-sides and pale purple undersides through dissolved hormones, photosynthetic reserves of starches and sugars and watered-down nutrients in Americanized purslane gardens.

Introduced into the Hawaiian archipelago, the Old World's leafy edible, purslane, responds to container gardening; white tern feeds chick nesting in containerized purslane, Sand Island, Midway Atoll; Thursday, April 29, 1999, 13:01:58; image #990429-0645: Forest and Kim Starr (Starr Environmental), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Purslane knows of roots as the mature 0.79- to 3.94-inch- (2- to 10-centimeter-) long taproot and as secondary replacements strengthening an uprooting or substituting for severances.

Secondary rooting from stem nodes, stored reserves and strong taproots let purslane link prostrate growth habits of above-ground shoots into mats 47.24 inches (120 centimeters) across. Short-stalked inflorescences called racemes manage one to three flowers, 0.12 to 0.39 inches (3 to 10 millimeters) across, at the axil unions of leaves and stems. The perfect, regular, stalkless flowers need one pistil, two 0.12- to 0.16-inch- (3- to 4-millimeter-) long sepals, four to six petals and six to 12 stamens.

Inconspicuous yellow petals occur one month after germination and open "only on sunny mornings" when petals opt to drop in January- to September-blooming Americanized purslane gardens.

Few-seeded, globe-shaped, 0.16- to 0.32-inch- (4- to 8-millimeter-) long capsules produce oval to triangular, red-brown to black, shiny seeds seven to 12 days after floral pollination.

Sunlight-sensitive seeds quit germinating below 75.2 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) and being viable above 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius) or above 122 (50). Emerging seeds, 0.02 to 0.04 inches (0.6 to 1 millimeter) across, require 24-hour-long soil temperatures at 86 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit (30 to 40 degrees Celsius). Otherwise, two-day-long temperatures at 50 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 20 degrees Celsius) start emergence procedures for the 40-year viable 242,500 seeds released per plant.

Purslane tiptoes through containerized and courtyard Americanized purslane gardens with native pink baby's breath, native prostrate pigweed, green-white-flowering lookalike without fleshy rooting leaves, and ornamental purslanes.

purslane (Portulaca oleracea) seeds: Steve Hurst/ARS Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory, Not copyrighted and may be freely used for any purpose, via USDA NRCS PLANTS Database

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

purslane flowers, leaves and stems; eastern Bulky Dump Peninsula, southern Sand Island, Midway Atoll; Monday, June 2, 2008, 10:56; image 080602-5375: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Starr_080602-5375_Portulaca_oleracea.jpg;
Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 4.0 International, via Starr Environmental @ http://www.starrenvironmental.com/images/image/?q=24616456080;
Forest and Kim Starr (Starr Environmental), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/starr-environmental/24616456080/

Introduced into the Hawaiian archipelago, the Old World's leafy edible, purslane, responds to container gardening; white tern feeds chick nesting in containerized purslane, Sand Island, Midway Atoll; Thursday, April 29, 1999, 13:01:58; image #990429-0645: Forest and Kim Starr (Starr Environmental), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/starr-environmental/24444140141/;
Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 4.0 International, via Starr Environmental @ http://www.starrenvironmental.com/images/image/?q=24444140141

purslane seeds: Steve Hurst/ARS Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory, Not copyrighted and may be freely used for any purpose, via USDA NRCS PLANTS Database @ https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=POOL

For further information:

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "1. Portulaca oleracea." Species Plantarum, vol. I: 445. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358464

Modzelevich, Martha. "Portulaca oleracea, Little Hogweed, Purslane, Garden Purslain, Hebrew: רגלת הגינה; Arabic: رجلة." Flowers in Israel.
Available @ http://www.flowersinisrael.com/Portulacaoleracea_page.htm

"Portulaca oleracea L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/26200154

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John F. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT (Botanical Research Institute of Texas) Press.

North American Scarlet Pimpernel Gardens for Primrose Family Weeds

Summary: Creeping jenny, fairy candelabra and garden yellow loosestrife like cyclamens, primroses and shooting stars in North American scarlet pimpernel gardens.

Swedish-born botanist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778) described the scarlet pimpernel in 1753; scarlet pimpernel, southwest Eastern Island, Midway Atoll; Saturday, March 28, 2015, 10:39:58; image #150328-0728: Forest and Kim Starr (Starr Environmental), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

The Primulaceae family of primrose-related herbs assumes its greatest worldwide diversity in north temperate regions where North American scarlet pimpernel gardens accommodate such beloved ornamental relatives as cyclamens, primroses and shooting stars.

Scarlet pimpernel, an annual, biennial or short-lived perennial from European and Mediterranean countries, brooks no opposition from cereals, oilseeds and vegetables or sandy soils and turf. It contains saponin, a toxic compound that counts among poisoned casualties calves, dogs, horses and sheep and that creates lather for detergent and fire extinguisher foam. It draws no weed designations in North America where Canada, Mexico and the United States likewise do not declare the native, primrose-related fairy candelabra a weed.

Weed designations emerge as possibilities since its Eurasian relatives, creeping jenny in Connecticut and Massachusetts and garden yellow loosestrife in Connecticut and Washington, endure such status.

Threadlike roots furnish below-ground support for the scarlet pimpernel's above-ground dark green, diamond-, ellipse-, oval- or triangle-shaped, shiny embryonic leaves, called cotyledons, and pale green stems.

The cotyledon grows to 0.04- to 0.24-inch (1- to 6-millimeter) lengths and to 0.04- to 0.12-inch (1- to 3-millimeter) widths in North American scarlet pimpernel gardens. Mature scarlet pimpernels commonly have heights of less than 5.91 inches (15 centimeters) in a range from 3.94 to 15.75 inches (10 to 40 centimeters) tall. Scarlet pimpernel, scientifically called Anagallis arvensis (laugh of cultivated fields), is tolerant of brief exposures to temperatures down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius).

The somewhat shade-tolerate sun-lover juggles horizontally spreading and vertically straight looks with four-angled to square, hairless stems branching from the base and rooting fibrously at nodes.

Egg-shaped to elliptical, 0.19- to 0.98-inch- (5- to 25-millimeter-) long, 0.16- to 0.71-inch- (4- to 18-millimeter-) wide leaves keep to opposite or three-whorled positions around stems.

Mature, smooth-margined foliage lacks hair on the black- to purple-dotted undersides and on the upper-sides and, when stalkless, lets the foliar base clasp the stem's sides. The biochemistry of 0.39- to 1.97-inch- (1- to 5-centimeter-) long floral stalks mingles with foliage at stalk birthplaces in the axil unions of leaves and stems. A phototropic biochemistry nourishes blue, brick red, pink, purple, scarlet or white flowers, each 0.32 to 0.55 inches (8 to 14 millimeters) across, on scarlet pimpernels.

March- through August-blooming North American scarlet pimpernel gardens offer observations of one pistil, five petals, five stamens and five sepals from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Awl-like, green, 0.12- to 0.19-inch- (3- to 5-millimeter-) long sepals, blue filament-haired yellow stamens and 0.16- to 0.39-inch- (4- to 10-millimeter-) long petals provide additional color.

North American scarlet pimpernel gardens quit flowering stages for the fruiting stage of many-seeded, nodding, round capsules 0.12 to 0.24 inches (3 to 6 millimeters) across. The production of dull brown to black, elliptical, fine-pitted, three-angled, 0.05-inch- (1.3-millimeter-) long seeds ranges per plant from 900 in the wild to 250,000 in greenhouses. Germination starts six to seven days after the breakdown of water-soluble inhibitors at soil temperatures of 35.6 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 20 degrees Celsius).

Soil-viable seeds turn scarlet pimpernel, also called bird's-eye, common pimpernel, eyebright, poison chickweed, poisonweed, poor man's weather-glass, red chickweed, shepherd's dock and wink-a-peep, into 10-year plans.

Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) chick and scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) are, respectively, native and non-native participants in the landscape near Cargo Pier, Sand Island, Midway Atoll; Sunday, March 29, 2015, 14:57:57; image #150329-0227: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

scarlet pimpernel, southwest Eastern Island, Midway Atoll; Saturday, March 28, 2015, 10:39:58; image #150328-0728: Forest and Kim Starr (Starr Environmental), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/starr-environmental/25269062405/;
Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 4.0 International, via Starr Environmental @ http://www.starrenvironmental.com/images/image/?q=25269062405

Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) chick near scarlet pimpernel; near Cargo Pier, Sand Island, Midway Atoll; Sunday, March 29, 2015, 14:57:57; image #150329-0227: Forest and Kim Starr (Starr Environmental), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/starr-environmental/25177125571/;
Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 4.0 International, via Starr Environmental @ http://www.starrenvironmental.com/images/image/?q=25177125571

For further information:

"Anagallis arvensis L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/26400001

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

Linnaeus, Carl. 1753. "1. Anagallis arvensis." Species Plantarum, vol. I: 148. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii [Laurentius Salvius].
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358167

Modzelevich, Martha. "Anagallis arvensis, Scarlet Pimpernel, Shepherd's Barometer, Poor Man's Weatherglass, Hebrew: מרגנית השדה, Arabic: عين القط." Flowers in Israel.
Available @ http://www.flowersinisrael.com/Anagallisarvensis_page.htm

Van Gogh Museum Theft Return by Gardner Museum Art Theft Anniversary

Summary: The Van Gogh Museum theft return to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, occurs around the 27th Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft anniversary.

13 artworks removed from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum during Sunday, March 18, 1990 art theft: Public Domain, via FBI Art Crime Team

The date March 18, 2017, acknowledges the 27th anniversary of the unsolved Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft and public viewings of the Van Gogh Museum theft return three days later.

The museum's theme "Ze zijn weer thuis!" ("They are home again!") brings closure to a 14-year loss in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and hope to Boston, Massachusetts. The Dutch police and their Italian counterparts claimed respective contributions to catching the two perpetrators in 2003 and to coordinating the two masterpieces' recovery in 2016. Recovery of the two oils of a Nuenen church and of a stormy Scheveningen derived from the conviction of two perpetrators and the cooperation of one.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation entered both museum thefts on the FBI list of top 10 art crimes without effectuating arrests, convictions or sentences in Boston.

The two art thefts, in Boston's Fenway neighborhood March 18, 1990, and in Amsterdam's Museumplein (Museum Square) Dec. 7, 2002, furnished two different means and outcomes.

Motion detection systems and security guard reports gave an 81-minute interval from walk-in as two policemen to walk-out as two perpetrators of a Boston museum theft. Burglar alarms, perpetrator confessions and security cameras had an interval of 3 minutes and 40 seconds from a roof break-in to a window break-out in Amsterdam. The FBI-released composite imparted the results of face-to-face interactions of two dark-haired, light-skinned, mustached male perpetrators in their late 20s or 30s with two Boston guards.

Eyewitnesses possibly joined on-site evidence in jacketing, and judging guilty, perpetrators long before the Van Gogh Museum theft return by the Gardner Museum art theft anniversary.

Gangsters Inc. @GangstersIncWeb, via Twitter Sep. 30, 2016

Commandeered surveillance footage, disabled burglar alarms and non-existent physical evidence keep investigators of the Gardner Museum art theft from knowing for sure the perpetrators' undisguised looks.

A discarded escape rope, an abandoned entry ladder, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) evidence and a dropped hat led Dutch police to two separate arrests in December 2003. Newspaper articles from 2002 and a perpetrator's confession for a 2017-released documentary respectively mentioned possible input from security cameras and a responding policeman making eye contact.

Different means netted different outcomes for two sets of two perpetrators near in age and possibly also in motives nurtured by the Mafia's need for art. The Van Gogh Museum theft return by the 27th Gardner Museum art theft anniversary occurred because of continental investigations into art-loving members of the Italian Mafia.

The first-floor Blue Room and the second-floor Dutch Room and Short Gallery preserve evidence of the theft in empty frames and places for 13 missing artworks.

Conscious reminder of 13 wayward artworks qualifies as another outcome different from the Van Gogh Museum's relocation of main exhibition hall paintings into the opened-up spaces. The Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen and View of the Sea at Scheveningen reclaim their place among their creator's preserved drawings, letters and paintings. Their recovery from the Castellammare di Stabia home of Mafia member Raffaele Imperiale's parents near Naples Sept. 25, 2016, suggests hope for the Gardner Museum 13.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation tends toward similarly Mafia-involved, tucked-away locations for the Gardner Museum 13 on the 27th anniversary of the Gardner Museum art theft.

Two Vincent van Gogh paintings stolen in 2002 from Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum were retrieved over 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) to the south in Castellammare di Stabia, a seaside resort in southwestern Italy; aerial view of Castellammare di Stabia, Gulf of Naples and Vesuvius; June 2005: Idéfix, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

13 artworks removed from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum during Sunday, March 18, 1990 art theft: Public Domain, via FBI Art Crime Team @ https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/5-million-reward-offered-for-return-of-stolen-gardner-museum-artwork

"Meet Raffaele Imperiale, the Camorra drug boss behind the stolen Van Gogh paintings worth $100 million.": Gangsters Inc. @GangstersIncWeb, via Twitter Sep. 30, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/GangstersIncWeb/status/781901611706777600

aerial view of Castellammare di Stabia, Gulf of Naples and Vesuvius; June 2005: Idéfix, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castellamaredistabbia0001.jpg

For further information:

Associated Press and Sarah Dean for MailOnline. 30 September 2016. "Two Van Gogh Paintings Stolen in a Daring Raid from a Dutch Museum in 2002 Are FOUND Wrapped in a Cloth in a Safe After Tip-off from a Mafia Suspect Led Italian Police to Hideout." Daily Mail > News > World News > Arts.
Available @ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3815383/2-Van-Gogh-paintings-recovered-Italian-anti-Mafia-police.html

Gangsters Inc. @GangstersIncWeb. 30 September 2016. "Meet Raffaele Imperiale, the Camorra drug boss behind  the stolen Van Gogh paintings worth $100 million." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/GangstersIncWeb/status/781901611706777600

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 February 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Bronze Chinese Beaker.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_10.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 February 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Degas Dancers.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_24.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 March 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Degas Funeral Procession.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 March 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Degas Jockeys.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_10.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 February 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Flinck Obelisk.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 March 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Manet Cafegoer." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_17.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 February 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Napoleonic Flag Topper.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_17.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 January 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Couple.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_20.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 January 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Seascape.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_13.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 January 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Self-Portrait.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 January 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Vermeer Concert.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_27.html

McKenna, Josephine. 30 September 2016. "Van Gogh Masterpieces Stolen from Amsterdam in Daring Heist 14 Years Ago Turn up in Italian Mafia's Country Mansion." The Telegraph > News.
Available @ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/30/van-gogh-paintings-discovered-in-italy-14-years-after-they-were/

Reuters. 8 December 2002. "Two van Gogh Works Are Stolen in Amsterdam." The New York Times > World.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/08/world/two-van-gogh-works-are-stolen-in-amsterdam.html

"Two Jailed over Van Gogh Thefts." British Broadcasting Corporation > BBC News > Entertainment > Arts & Culture > 22 July 2004.
Available @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3928943.stm

"Two Stolen Van Gogh Paintings Back on Display in Amsterdam." Euronews > Netherlands > 22 March 2017.
Available @ http://www.euronews.com/2017/03/22/two-stolen-van-gogh-paintings-back-on-display-in-amsterdam

Van Gogh Museum. 8 February 2017. "Van Gogh Returns - Director Axel Rüger." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlz6QK5pgug

Van Gogh Museum @vangoghmuseum. 21 March 2017. "Read the #VanGoghReturns press release: 'Home at last: after 14 years the stolen Van Goghs are back in the museum.'" Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/vangoghmuseum/status/844140717769441280

Wochit News. 21 March 2017. "After 14 Years, Stolen Van Gogh Paintings Returned To Amsterdam Museum." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azb9H_92CFQ