‘It's gutting.' A local artist says a thief in a ski mask stole his painting from a Somerville gallery.
'It's gutting,' said Adam Leveille, whose painting, an oil-on-linen depiction of the now-closed Nissenbaum's Auto Parts near
Union Square, was one of two lifted in an apparent heist earlier this month at Somerville's Prospect Union Square building.
'I want people to have my artwork. To have somebody just be so brazen in taking it, that's the real violation,' he said in an interview.
The theft is still unsolved. Somerville Police Captain Jeffrey DiGregorio said he couldn't comment on an active investigation but confirmed the department received a report that two pieces of artwork had been stolen just before 3 a.m. on Jan. 7 at that address. Jenn Libby, the building's general manager, said she couldn't comment on the investigation but was 'deeply disheartened by the recent theft of artwork.'
The painting, called 'Nissenbaum, midday,' had been part of
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The exhibit, called Visions of Somerville, featured a roster of more than a dozen Somerville artists and was set to run from Jan. 6 to April 1.
When it launched, one painting from each artist was strung up from the ceiling by wires in a publicly accessible hallway near the building's lobby, people involved with the exhibit said.
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Leveille said he was told by staff at the building who viewed security footage of the incident that it showed an apparent thief enter the building wearing a ski mask, slice the wires holding two paintings aloft with a knife, and then run off.
Libby declined to discuss or share the purported footage and wouldn't comment on whether there was, indeed, a ski mask-wearing thief, but said in a statement that building management remains 'committed to fostering a vibrant and inclusive arts community in Union Square and will do everything in our power to ensure such an incident does not happen again.'
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To protect the
other artworks, the gallery was promptly taken down, said Peter Belford, who sits on the board of directors for Somerville Open Studios.
'It's disappointing. It's horrible,' he said. 'We're working to help local artists, feature local artists, and put their art into public spaces. For one person to do something that prevents us from doing that is very unfortunate.'
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Plans to open a new gallery in the building
are now in the works, the building manager and Belford said.
'We won't let this stop us from trying to bring arts to the community and support local artists,' Belford said.
Why someone would steal these particular
paintings
is a mystery to Leveille.
While he said he is proud to have a following of patrons who support his work, the painting itself likely would have sold for around $2,000. A decent amount of money, sure, but the Gardner Museum heist it was not.
'You're not running off with a Sargent painting,' he said.
Building management has offered to compensate him for the value of the artwork, which he appreciates, but the painting also had significant sentimental value. Leveille said he chose to paint the decommissioned salvage yard, which closed in 2022, because he has fond memories of visiting it with his grandfather, who sourced car parts there.
'It feels personal,' he said. 'It's something that I spent a lot of time with. I put a lot of energy and emotion and hours into it.'
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Allen Nissenbaum, who owns the auto parts property in the painting, said in an interview he hadn't seen the artwork before it was stolen but was 'honored' Leveille had created such a loving tribute. How did he feel about it being stolen? 'Pissed,' he said.
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The fact that this theft happened so soon after the gallery launched and that the thief targeted his painting so quickly, Leveille said, suggests perhaps that he was being targeted. He just can't understand why.
If it was someone who liked the painting but was on a budget, he said, he would have been happy to work something out with them. He's done so in the past with other potential buyers, either by offering discounts to people with limited means or by helping fans find smaller and less expensive paintings they can afford.
This was different. 'It's not a conversation. It's not a negotiation. It's just literally brute force,' Leveille said.
While there is no evidence yet the incidents are related, the theft has drawn comparisons to
For his part, Leveille doesn't expect to see his painting again. 'Unless somebody gets busted doing something else and there's my painting on the wall,' he said.
Still, he feels compelled to speak out publicly about what happened and has asked on his Instagram account and on Reddit for anyone with information about the heist, or who might have seen his painting appear somewhere, to come forward.
If anything, he just wants to let potential area art thieves know they can't steal from local artists with impunity.
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'I want whoever stole it to hear that people are looking for it,' he said. 'It's not one and done, and you got away with it.'
Adam Leveille posed for a portrait at his home studio in Somerville.
Erin Clark/Globe Staff
Spencer Buell can be reached at
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Boston Globe
18-03-2025
- Boston Globe
On the 35th anniversary of the Gardner Museum heist, retired FBI agent offers theory on whodunnit
Advertisement 'And then they wake up on March 19 to realize that they've committed the heist of the century,' said Kelly, 57, who spearheaded the investigation from 2002 through last April and is now a partner at Argus Cultural Property Consultants. Kelly said he searched until the day he retired and cautions that, typically, stolen artwork is often not recovered until generations have gone by. 'Someone is going to be looking in an attic and find these pieces,' he said. 'There's always hope.' No one has been charged with the theft and none of the artwork has been recovered, despite a $10 million reward. After scrutinizing d Two suspects in the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft are: Leonard DiMuzio (left), who was shot to death in 1991, and George Reissfelder, who was found dead of a cocaine overdose in 1991. Handout/Joe Runci Early that morning on March 18, petty thief George Reissfelder parked his red Dodge Daytona near the Gardner Museum's Palace Road entrance, with Leonard DiMuzio, an associate implicated in home invasions, in the passenger seat. Dressed as police officers, they rang the museum buzzer and claimed to be investigating a disturbance. Th The thieves tied up Abath and a second guard and spent 81 minutes in the museum, slicing some masterpieces from their frames. They stole 13 pieces: Rembrandt's only seascape, 'The Storm on the Sea of Galilee,' 'A Lady and Gentleman in Black,' and a stamp-sized self-portrait; Vermeer's 'The Concert'; Flinck's 'Landscape with an Obelisk'; five Degas sketches; Manet's 'Chez Tortoni'; an ancient Chinese vase; and a finial of a gilded bronze eagle from atop a Napoleonic flag. Advertisement Before leaving, they snatched computer printouts from a motion sensor that had tracked their movements. But their steps were preserved on a hard drive, which showed the thieves hadn't entered the first floor Blue Room, where Manet's 'Chez Tortoni' was taken. Only Abath's steps, as he made his rounds before the thieves arrived, were picked up there. And Abath had briefly opened a side door minutes before letting the thieves inside, which Kelly said he suspects was a signal he was ready for them. Former Gardner Museum night watchman Rick Abath is pictured in 2013. (Matthew Cavanaugh for The Boston Globe) Matthew Cavanaugh Abath, Kelly is convinced he did. He said Abath had given his two-week notice around the time of the theft, and must have taken the Manet since he was the only one who entered that gallery. He speculated Abath left the painting for the thieves, hoping they would save it for him. Instead, they left the empty frame on the security director's chair. 'The Storm' and other pieces were too big to fit in Reissfelder's car, suggesting they had accomplices with a truck or van, Kelly said. Kelly's theory is that the mastermind of the theft was Carmello Merlino, a mob associate who ran a repair shop in Dorchester and likely sent the thieves inside the museum with a 'shopping list.' Advertisement 'It didn't require a master thief to go in there,' Kelly said. The job was 'basically pull the stuff off the wall and carry it out.' The Manet was likely not on the list, according to Kelly. Years later, Reissfelder's relatives told authorities they saw a distinctive painting of a man in a tall hat — just as in 'Chez Tortoni' — on the bedroom wall of Reissfelder's Quincy apartment months after the heist. The painting was gone when Reissfelder, 51, was found dead inside his apartment in March 1991 of a cocaine overdose. 'It was a suspicious death,' said Kelly, noting Reissfelder died of an intravenous overdose, which was 'very strange, considering his family said he was scared of needles.' The painting "Chez Tortoni," by Edouard Manet, was one of the paintings stolen from the Isabella Gardner Museum in 1990. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston Two weeks after Reissfelder's death, DiMuzio, 43, of Rockland, disappeared. His body was found in the trunk of a car in East Boston in June 1991. No one has been charged with his death. Kelly said he believes DiMuzio and Reissfelder were killed 'for the paintings or to keep them quiet.' Two other men linked to the Gardner artwork were mob associates: Marks, 50, was shot to death outside his Lynn home in February 1991, and Donati was stabbed to death outside his Revere home seven months later. The deaths of Reissfelder, DiMuzio, Marks, and Donati within 18 months of the heist had 'a chilling effect' on the investigation, Kelly said. Kelly said Donati's home was broken into at the time of his slaying, fueling the theory his killers were after the stolen artwork. Advertisement Paul Colantropo, a friend of Donati's who had appraised jewelry and other items for him, told the FBI Donati 'My opinion is that some of those pieces were under Donati's control and he died, and the secret of where he hid them went with him,' Kelly said. The FBI's heavy focus on Merlino has been well known. He boasted to two FBI informants he planned to recover the artwork and collect the reward. Instead, he was caught in an FBI sting in 1999 and convicted of trying to rob an armored car depot. Despite offers of leniency in return for the stolen artwork, Merlino never produced them and died in prison in 2005. Robert Gentile, 81, arrived at federal court in Hartford on Feb. 27, 2018. Federal prosecutors said they believed he had information about the whereabouts of the stolen Gardner Museum paintings. Patrick Raycraft/Hartford Courant via AP The FBI believes some artwork ended up with Robert Guarente, a convicted bank robber with mob ties who died in 2004. Six years later, Guarente's widow told the FBI he gave two of the stolen paintings to During a 2012 search of Gentile's home in Manchester, Conn., agents found a list of the stolen artwork, with their black market value, tucked inside a March 1990 copy of the Boston Herald reporting the theft. They also found weapons, police hats, handcuffs, drugs, and explosives in the house and an empty Rubbermaid tub buried under the floorboards of a backyard shed. 'What was so important that he had to bury it under the ground in the backyard?' said Kelly, who remains convinced the tub once contained some stolen pieces. Advertisement A law enforcement agent searched a shed behind the home of reputed Connecticut mobster Robert Gentile in Manchester, Conn., on May 10, 2012. AP/Associated Press In 2013, the FBI said it believed some of the stolen artwork, including 'The Storm,' was moved through organized crime circles to Philadelphia, where the trail went cold around 2003. Gentile insisted he never had access to the paintings and didn't know where they were, even after he was offered freedom on gun and drug charges if he could produce the artwork. He died in 2021. Kelly, who partnered on the investigation with Gardner security director Anthony Amore, said they relentlessly pursued leads across the United States and overseas. 'I couldn't even count the number of hot dirty attics and moldy basements I've been pawing through in my career,' Kelly said. There have been credible sightings of the Vermeer, Rembrandt's 'The Storm' and the tiny self portrait, the Manet, and the finial. But, none for the remainder, he said. On Friday, Jodi Cohen, special agent-in-charge of the FBI's Boston office, said the FBI continues to seek the public's help to recover the artwork. She urged people to 'refamiliarize themselves' with the works. Kelly said the pieces could be 'anywhere on Earth,' buried underground or hidden under a mattress or behind a wall. And the challenge is, 'You have to find them.' An empty frame for Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee" at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 2009. Globe staff photo David L. Ryan Shelley Murphy can be reached at
Boston Globe
04-02-2025
- Boston Globe
‘A stunning update.' Stolen Somerville art has been returned.
The Globe Then, early on Saturday morning, he got a phone call, which rang to his voicemail. The caller left a message. 'I can get your paintings returned to you,' it said. Advertisement Fifteen minutes later, Leveille said, a neighbor came to his door and told him she'd seen a man delivering the artworks to his building's lobby. 'I ran down in my pajama pants,' said Leveille, a Somerville resident. 'And lo and behold, both pieces were there!' His painting, called 'Nissenbaum, midday,' is an oil-on-linen depiction of Somerville's now-shuttered Nissenbaum's Auto Parts. This painting by local artist Adam Leveille, called "Nissenbaum Midday," was among those recently stolen from a gallery. Adam Leveille Both it and the other artwork, a photograph of a local laundromat, were unscathed, he said. The photographer whose work was stolen has opted not to come forward publicly. Leveille knows he's lucky this tale ended the way it did. 'I think it's rare that stories about art theft have happy endings. Boston Somerville Police confirmed Tuesday the paintings had been returned but declined to comment further 'as the identity of the suspect remains under investigation,' city spokesperson Grace Munns said in an email. According to Leveille, the neighbor who saw the person deliver the artworks hadn't realize anything out of the ordinary was afoot. Their building is home to many artists, and it isn't unusual for paintings to be delivered to its lobby. They can't say for certain if the person who returned the painting was the alleged thief who stole them in the middle of the night back in early January. But Leveille said the neighbor's description of the man who delivered them seemed to match that of the person seen in security footage of the incident released last week by the Somerville Police Department. Advertisement For the artworks' safe return, Leveille credits the swell of media attention that came after he revealed publicly on social media that his painting had been swiped, and received a wave of support from neighbors and other artists in the area. The footage from the police — which appeared to show a masked person cutting down the the paintings, putting them in a car, and driving away — may have also turned up the pressure, Leveille said. Security footage appears to show Somerville art theft suspect Share Security footage appears to show the suspect in a small-scale Somerville heist that has puzzled the local arts community. Leveille isn't sure how to feel about what ought to happen next. He isn't eager to see a suspect charged, especially since they apparently opted to do the right thing. 'I don't know that I want to see him punished, per se, but it's still a pretty violent violation of trust,' he said. 'I'm kind of conflicted here.' In the meantime, people who have followed this saga closely may soon get a chance to see it for themselves. Leveille said he is offering his painting up for inclusion in a new, soon-to-open exhibition in the same building as the original one. This time, it'll be behind glass, said Peter Belford, who sits on the board of directors for Somerville Open Studios, the nonprofit that curated the original exhibit in the building and is now organizing this new one. The follow-up gallery will be displayed inside an empty storefront and will be visible to passersby outside the building who can peer at it through the exterior window. Some artworks were set to be hung as early as Tuesday evening. It's expected to run through early April, people involved with the exhibit said. Advertisement Belford said he is glad to see the story come full-circle. But the damage is done, he said. 'It doesn't make the incident any less unfortunate,' Belford said. 'They still really put a big crimp in an effort to bring local art to the public and highlight local artists.' As for what the future holds for Leveille's painting long-term, he said he is still open to selling it, if someone wants to procure it the legal and fair way. For now, he's just happy the painting's possible return to the gallery might stir up some more interest in local creatives' work. 'I would hope people would come see [the exhibit] just because it's a good show, but I think the kerfuffle and the happy ending is really a nice positive spin on what is otherwise usually a pretty sad story,' he said. Spencer Buell can be reached at
Boston Globe
31-01-2025
- Boston Globe
Newly released security video shows Somerville art heist in progress
The footage appears to show the suspect leaving the paintings outside the building, then returning more than half-an-hour later to put them in a dark-colored sedan before driving away. Advertisement Police are asking anyone with information about the theft to contact Detective Jonathan Thermidor at 617-625-1600 x7231. The theft has puzzled the local arts community. One, painter Adam Leveille, Leveille said the painting likely would have sold for around $2,000, but told the Globe he was primarily saddened to lose a work that held sentimental value, and also that the theft resulted in the gallery being shut down early to protect the other paintings. Plans have been in the works to host another exhibit in the property soon, building management has said. This painting by local artist Adam Leveille, called "Nissenbaum, midday," was among those recently stolen from a gallery. Adam Leveille Spencer Buell can be reached at
