Wishing Ed and all the rest of the commentariat a very Happy Christmas.

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Your friend paints a picture. You insure it for $1,000,000. Then it gets "stolen" (you throw it in the trash) and you either collect from the insurance company or declare a big loss on your tax return. TADA!

(It's slightly more complicated than this, since the insurers and tax authorities are aware of this scheme; typically it's a sort of pump-and-dump involving overvaluing a minor artist rather than your friend painting a picture. But close enough.)

When I had that job, three pieces were stolen from the DeYoung, in San Francisco. After I moved there those were recovered thanks to an "anonymous tip", so I suspect they were ransomed secretly.

The agent who interviewed me a month after the Gardner theft said afterward he thought they were in "some Yakuza guy's vault" already. I think they've since dropped that idea.

It may be the thieves didn't realize those pieces were not insured. That's because Mrs. Gardner's will forbids changing the collection, so the Trustees figured they'd save some money, since they couldn't buy anything to replace them.

Movie "Stolen" gives a good account of the hunt for them. Btw, we got monthly bulletins from InterPol in those days, listing stolen works somebody might try to pawn.

2. Not all of the art in museums is displayed. Museums make their money on the highly touted exhibits made to appeal to various general interest groups. So yes, you'll see exhibits of the more famous impressionists, while the lesser-known paintings by Sargent, or the Philadelphia school or New York landscape artists languish in the basement vaults. It could be 2015 by the time the museums actually miss some of these hidden gems. In the meantime, they could easily be pilfered by someone with determination or help from museum staff.

3. It's a lot easier to steal art than to sell it–for many of the reasons already stated by others, above. One major impediment to selling to a willing buyer–who won't care if the art is stolen–is that the thieves rarely move in the same circles as the art dealers the buyers work with, and willingness to sell stolen art isn't something a reputable art dealer will advertise. In addition, while the thieves may steal the art, they rarely remember to steal the authentication papers–which are usually kept in another secure vault. Without that chain of title, the painting may as well have been executed by the guy in the mall who sells cut-rate landscapes.