LIFE@Lynchburg | Empty Frames: The Gardner Heist & the Meaning of Art

On March 18, 1990, two men disguised as Boston police officers pulled off the most significant art theft in American history, robbing the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of priceless works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and others. Thirty-five years later, the mystery of the heist — and the fate of the stolen masterpieces — remains unsolved. This presentation explores the infamous Gardner Museum heist, the bold and eccentric life of its founder, and the enduring role of art in American culture. From true crime and unsolved mysteries to gilded galleries and art history, the audience will come away with a deeper appreciation for beauty, loss, and the strange magic of museums, along with an invitation to experience it all firsthand in Boston.

Speaker Biography:

Dr. Price Blair, associate professor in the University of Lynchburg’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program and the assistant director of Westover Honors, joined the faculty in 2010. He earned his bachelor’s degree in both chemistry and classics from Washington & Lee University and his doctorate in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics from Boston University School of Medicine before continuing post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School. Today, Dr. Blair teaches courses in a variety of subjects, including a Westover Honors colloquium on Frankenstein and the Science of Synthetic Life. He has led multiple study abroad trips to Italy, England, Scotland, and Germany to study the history of anatomy and medicine, as well as the works of Frankenstein. Dr. Blair’s current research interests include studying the local history of grave robbing and body snatching for the purposes of medical education.

You may also like the following events from LIFE at Lynchburg:

• Next Wednesday, 8th October, 10:00 am, Understanding and Ending Homelessness: The Central Virginia Landscape and Miriam’s House’s Approach in Lynchburg
• This month, 22nd October, 10:00 am, LIFE@Lynchburg | The Gift of a Skeptical Mind: Why Socrates Was Right About the Unexamined Life in Lynchburg
• This month, 29th October, 10:00 am, LIFE@Lynchburg | False All Through in Lynchburg

Also check out other Arts events in Lynchburg, Nonprofit events in Lynchburg.