Three famous paintings were stolen from a Frankfurt art gallery in 1994. This case of art theft is unique in that the paintings were recovered by buying them back from the thieves; the people responsible for the theft were never brought to justice. Frankfurt am Main ▶(?) [ˈfraŋkfʊrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Art theft is the stealing of someone elses high-profile art. ...

Shade and Darkness by J. M. W. Turner, 1843

The theft took place on 28 July 1994 in the Kunsthalle Schirn in Frankfurt. The stolen painting were Light and Colour and Shade and Darkness, both by J. M. W. Turner and on loan from the Tate Gallery in London, and Nebelschwaden by Caspar David Friedrich, on loan from the Kunsthalle Hamburg. Two of the thieves were apprehended quickly, but police were unable to identify the people behind the plan or recover the paintings. Insurance companies paid about 40 million Euros to the paintings' owners. J. M. W. Turner, English landscape painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (born in Covent Garden, London on April 23, 1775 (exact date disputed), died December 19, 1851) was an English Romantic landscape artist, whose style can be said to lay the foundations for Impressionism. ... The Tate Gallery in the United Kingdom is a network of four galleries and a virtual presence: Tate Britain (opened 1897), Tate Liverpool (1988), Tate St Ives (1993), Tate Modern (2000) and Tate Online (1998). ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Self-portrait by Caspar David Friedrich, 1810 Caspar David Friedrich (September 5, 1774 – May 7, 1840) was a 19th century German romantic painter. ... The Kunsthalle Hamburg is an art museum in Hamburg, Germany. ... The euro (€; ISO 4217 code EUR) is the currency of twelve European Union member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, collectively known as the Eurozone. ...

The central suspect, a major figure of the Jugoslavian Mafia in Frankfurt known as "Stevo", tried to sell the paintings to an underworld figure of Marbella. The two could not agree on a price, and undercover agents of the German police then joined the negotiations in 1995. A new deal for purchase of the paintings was set up, but it died in the last minute when Stevo's negotiator demanded a doubling of the advance payment. Stevo was arrested, but the evidence was deemed insufficient for prosecution; he was represented by the attorney Edgar Liebrucks who had defended several Mafia figures before. The German prosecutors then all but gave up on the case. Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in all south Slavic languages) is a term used for three separate but successive political entities that existed during most of the 20th century on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. ... Marbella is a city in Andalusia, Spain, by the Mediterranean, situated in between Malaga and Gibraltar, beneath the Sierra Blanca. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1998, the Tate Gallery paid 8 million pounds to the insurance company Hiscox in return for ownership of the paintings, should they ever resurface. Tate had previously received 24 million pounds from the insurance company as compensation for the loss. Sir Nicholas Serota, director of Tate, after having received green light from his supervisory board and justice officials, went ahead with a secret plan to buy back the paintings, known as "Operation Cobalt". An undercover agent from Scotland Yard contacted Edgar Liebbrucks, and in late 1999 the lawyer began to negotiate with the Mafia on behalf of Tate. The two sides agreed on a purchase price of 5 million Deutsche Marks per painting. Stevo again increased the demanded advance payment from 1 million to 2 million Marks, and Liebbrucks took out a personal loan to cover this payment. The deal for the first painting went through, Liebrucks was compensated by Tate, and Shadow and Darkness returned to London in July 2000. Further negotiations then halted; Stevo apparently had lost interest. 1998(MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The pound sterling is the official currency of the United Kingdom (UK). ... Sir Nicholas Serota (born 1946) is a curator, and currently Director of the Tate, the United Kingdoms leading visual arts organisation. ... New Scotland Yard, London New Scotland Yard, often referred to simply as Scotland Yard or The Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for policing Greater London (although not the City of London itself). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Deutsche Mark (DM, DEM) was the official currency of West and, from 1990, unified Germany. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

In Fall 2002 two men contacted Liebbrucks; they indicated that they had possession of the two remaining paintings and were willing to sell. Apparently, Stevo had stored the paintings with them, and possibly they were now acting on their own behalf, trying to hoodwink Stevo. The Tate Gallery then bought the remaining Turner painting for 2 million Euros; it returned to London around Christmas 2002. The two men took a six month vacation in Cuba. The Tate Gallery profited to the tune of some 20 million Euros. 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The euro (€; ISO 4217 code EUR) is the currency of twelve European Union member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, collectively known as the Eurozone. ...

The Kunsthalle Hamburg then authorized Liebbrucks to recover the Friedrich painting. When the two men returned from their vacation, Liebbrucks was able to lower the price from initially 1.5 million Euros to 250,000 Euros. Confident that he would be recompensated later, the lawyer paid with his own money and returned the painting in August 2003. The two men left for Brazil. When the Kunsthalle refused to pay Liebbrucks, he sued in 2005. 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Egmont R. Koch und Nina Svensson. Nicht Zu Fassen, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, 2005-Nov-04 (German)
• Press release by the Tate Gallery upon recovery of the paintings, December 2002
• Press release by the Tate Gallery, announcing use of part of the proceeds for Turner studies, March 2005
• BBC article on recovery of the paintings, December 2002