Thursday's Art Notes

_Vermeer's "The Concert" was one of several works of art stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990._ Twenty years ago, the "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum":http://www.gardnermuseum.org/ in Boston was the site of the biggest art heist in history. Today, with all the advances in DNA technology, "the FBI has resubmitted evidence":http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/03/04/dna_clues_hunted_in_90_art_theft/ to see if they can gather any new leads. The heist, which took place March 18, 1990, and included three Rembrandts and a Vermeer, remains the world's largest art theft in dollar value at as much as $300 million. Follow these links to read about the FBI's "Art Theft Program":http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/arttheft.htm and see details on "the Gardner heist":http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/northamerica/us/isabella/isabella.htm. There's a $5 million reward, after all. * The 12th annual "Armory Show":http://www.thearmoryshow.com/ opens in New York. Last year's art fair drew 56,000 visitors and more than 200 dealers. This year, 289 galleries will be represented, as well as a record 483 galleries and artist projects in 11 other concurrent fairs, reports the Art Newspaper. Amid the recession and in a city with no shortage of museums, galleries and foundations, "the Art Newspaper asks":http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Survival-of-the-fittest?-NYC-fairs-multiply-despite-recession/20392, "How do these fairs hope to stand out from the crowd?" * Pakistani-American author Daniyal Mueenuddin was named the winner of "the Story Prize":http://www.thestoryprize.org/ on Wednesday night for his collection "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders." The annual book award honors an author of a collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. "Jeffrey Brown talked to Mueenuddin":http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2009/05/conversation-daniyal-mueenuddin.html last year about his collection.