Chez Tortoni - Edouard Manet
Art is subjective. But what happened to 'Chez Tortoni' is even more. It is puzzling.
Chez Tortoni, a Parisian café
'Chez Tortoni' (“ At Tortoni’s”) is a small (10 x 13 inches or 26 x 34 cm) oil painting created by the Impressionist Édouard Manet in 1875. A well-dressed young man is sitting at a table in the Café Tortoni in Paris, sketching on a notepad with a half-empty glass beside him.
This work was part of Manet's series capturing scenes of Parisian café society in the late 19th century. It exemplifies his spontaneous, almost snapshot-like style and broad brushstrokes characteristic of the Impressionist movement.
The sales receipt of the painting, acquired in 1922 by painter and art dealer Louis Kronberg, on behalf of Isabella Stewart Gardner, states:
“Portrait of a jaded yet alert young man writing a letter in the famous Parisian café, his refreshing glass placed within reach.”
The famous Café Tortoni opened in 1798 and came under the Tortoni family's ownership in 1804. The family owned it until 1893, when financial difficulties forced them to sell the café due to expensive and unsuccessful industrial investments.
The Italian-origin owners, ice cream makers, made this establishment successful thanks to its luxurious atmosphere open to everyone. Located a few streets away from the Opéra Garnier, it attracted politicians, intellectuals, and artists throughout the 19th century, including Stendhal, Balzac, Proust, Hugo, and Dumas, who mentioned it in ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’:
“I went to Tortoni’s, where, as I expected, I found Beauchamp and Chateau–Renaud. I own I was seeking them.”
The Heist
What is particularly remarkable about this painting, beyond its artistic qualities, is what happened after it was purchased. It was added by Isabella Stewart Gardner to the museum she created in 1903. ‘Chez Tortoni’ remained here from 1922 to 1990.
On the night of March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers gained entry to the museum by tricking the security guards into believing they were responding to a disturbance call. Once inside, the thieves overpowered and tied up the guards, then looted the museum, stealing valuable works including Vermeer’s ‘The Concert’ (valued today at $250 million) and Rembrandt’s ‘The Storm on the Sea of Galilee’ and ‘A Lady and Gentleman in Black’. A total of 13 artworks were stolen, including ‘Chez Tortoni’, several drawings by Degas, an ancient Chinese Gu, and a French Imperial Eagle.
Stealing the latter is quite surprising given the presence of other valuable works by Raphael and Botticelli, as well as Titian's masterpiece 'The Rape of Europa'.
The bizarre choices of the stolen works contrast with the meticulous planning and insider knowledge - the thieves spent an unusually long 81 minutes inside the building compared to typical art heists.
What happened to Manet’s tableau is even more puzzling. ‘Chez Tortoni’ is the only painting stolen from the first floor, which is a quite important deviation for such a painting given the many masterpieces on display. It is the only stolen artwork from the Blue Room, where it hung just below a bigger Manet painting, ‘Madame Auguste Manet’, a portrait of the artist's mother.
The thieves also removed the frames of the Dutch paintings they stole, leaving them slightly damaged on the floor. However, for ‘Chez Tortoni’, the frame was discarded on the opposite side of the museum, in the security office. No one knows why, especially since, unlike the Dutch paintings, it was not necessary to remove this frame to transport the painting given its small size.
Imagination
The story of the heist already captivates our imagination, but there is more, inspired by intangible elements and stories from books and movies.
The sonority of “Tortoni” associated with “art thief in Boston” brings to mind the various mafia clans that share territories in New England. Investigations into the Boston Mafia indeed led to the Merlino gang.
The character seated at Tortoni’s also resembles an enigmatic fictional hero. His top hat and mustache evoke the original Arsène Lupin, an artist among thieves.
But there is one more thing distinguishing ‘Chez Tortoni’ from the other stolen artworks: it may have been the only painting seen afterwards. Siblings of George Reissfelder, a Merlino associate, recall a similar painting “with a man with a top hat” in his bedroom, something unusual for him, not in his usual tastes.
What about today? There are still no leads on the paintings. The reward remains: after offering ten million dollars in 2017 to anyone who could help find the paintings, Sotheby's and Christie's are now offering a $1 million reward for anyone who helps recover them.
This should be the next trend in true crime entertainment!