The Montmartre Heist

At the turn of the 20th century, Montmartre was a village perched atop Paris, beyond the city limits. Rents were negligible, wine flowed freely, and the police barely glanced its way. It was the ideal refuge for broke artists, cursed poets, and anarchists. Picasso moved into the Bateau-Lavoir in 1904, into a studio with no running water or heating. It was there he would paint Les Demoiselles d'Avignon in 1907, a painting that would revolutionize art history.

At the foot of the Butte, the Moulin Rouge opened its doors in 1889. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, a deformed aristocrat turned genius painter, made it his headquarters. His posters of cancan dancers — La Goulue, Jane Avril — became the first works of advertising art. He painted every night, between glasses of absinthe, until his premature death at 36.

In August 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian glazier. During the investigation, police questioned Apollinaire, who pointed the finger at Picasso. Both artists were suspected — wrongly — of involvement in an antiquities theft ring. The painting would not be recovered until 1913, in Italy. This affair remains the most famous art theft in History.