The Spider-Man Art Theft - Palais de Tokyo
On the night of 19 to 20 May 2010 the cat burglar Vjeran Tomic, nicknamed Spider-Man, climbed in through a window of the Musee d'Art Moderne in the Palais de Tokyo and cut five masterpieces by Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Modigliani and Leger from their frames; worth more than 100 million euros, the paintings were never recovered, and Tomic was later convicted and sentenced to eight years.
Über diesen Ort
The Palais de Tokyo, built for the International Exposition of 1937, stretches along the Seine and houses the Musee d'Art Moderne de Paris, the city's museum of modern art. On the night of 19 May 2010 it was the target of one of the most audacious art thefts of modern times. A Paris cat burglar named Vjeran Tomic, so skilled on walls and windows that the press called him Spider-Man, broke in through a window, moved through the silent galleries, and cut five paintings from their frames: works by Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Modigliani and Leger, together valued at more than 100 million euros. A broken alarm system meant no one was alerted until morning. Tomic was eventually caught and convicted and received an eight-year sentence, but the paintings themselves were never found. Their fate remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of the art world, a fitting and haunting end to our walk.
Wissenswertes
- 5 paintings — Masterpieces by Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Modigliani and Leger, cut from their frames in one night.
- 100 million euros — The combined value of the stolen works was estimated at more than 100 million euros.
- 8 years — The prison sentence handed to Vjeran Tomic, the convicted burglar known as Spider-Man.
📍 Avenue du Président Wilson 11, 75116, Paris