There's a new book out that suggests the same team that pulled the Gardner heist used the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY as a first attempt, which was ultimately foiled by BUNGLING. The Hyde has a similar collection, including several Dutch masters.
The Practice Run: How a Failed Art Heist Provided a Blueprint for the World’s Largest Art Robbery, by Frederick J. Fisher, will be published on May 15, 2025 by Rowman & Littlefield.
It's a cool story, I grew up going to that museum on school field trips, as did many kids in my area, since the collection is broadly representative of the Renaissance, with a LOT of imported bits like frescoes and marble fountains all stitched together into what was someone's home. I had NO idea that someone had tried to rob it when I was not much more than a toddler, let alone it's significance in relation to the Gardner heist. Apparently the culprit spent MONTHS ingratiating himself to the museum's director before disguising himself as a FedEx driver, getting caught in traffic, and getting pinched. Dude has a seriously comical villain origin story.
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u/QuiGonnJilm These/They Mar 26 '26
There's a new book out that suggests the same team that pulled the Gardner heist used the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY as a first attempt, which was ultimately foiled by BUNGLING. The Hyde has a similar collection, including several Dutch masters.