The AGO
Adventure
By
Arnold Benson
Alice closed the book on her lap,
1001 Animals: An Encyclopedia for Young People. It was her favourite book.
She turned to Michelle, "Ok,
I've got one," Alice said, "What do you call a kitten that's holding
a paint brush?"
"I don't know," said
Michelle, "What?"
"Picatsso!" said Alice.
"I hate you." Michelle
says.
"Whatever! You're just
jealous that my jokes are so funny," Alice shot back.
Michelle smiled.
It had been a long bus ride, all
the way from Meaford to Toronto. The class was going to the Art Gallery of
Ontario. They were going to the Picasso exhibit. It was a big deal. Picasso
paintings so rarely came to Toronto, that when they did, it was worth going to
see.
"He's a true master, a true
artistic genius," they're teacher had said. "This is a once in a
lifetime opportunity to see his paintings. The Weeping Woman will be there.
It's a stunning painting, when you look at it, you absolutely can't look
away."
The class was excited.
The driver pulled into the AGO
parking lot and the kids tumbled off the bus. In a few minutes they were inside
hanging their coats and getting ready for the tour.
"That's a great book you
have there," one of the security guards said to Alice, pointing to her
encyclopedia. "I love animals, animals of all kinds."
"Me too!" said Alice
"I read about them all the time."
"Do you have any pets?"
The guard asked.
"Just a dog, but he's a
great dog." Alice answered. "And you?"
"Oh, I have all kinds of
pets, all kinds," the guard answered, smiling.
"Ok, class, time to get
started!" The teacher called.
Alice waved goodbye to the guard,
and the class filed down the hallway towards the exhibits. The AGO was
wonderful. There were works by Colville, Carr, Thomson, Harris, and even Keith
Haring. The students loved it. They walked through the great rooms with eyes
wide, taking it all in.
And then they arrived at the
doors to the Picasso exhibit.
"This is it," said the
teacher, "let's go in and experience the wonder that is one of the greatest
painters of the past 100 years: Pablo Picasso!"
The class walked into the room.
It was bright, spacious, and the walls were covered in paintings. Beautiful
paintings: blue paintings from Picasso's blue period, pink paintings from
Picasso's rose period, paintings with jagged edges, paintings with cracked,
sharps angles, paintings of joy, heart ache, tragedy, triumph, and jealousy. It
was all there, all on the walls, and it was wonderful.
The class rounded a corner,
towards a small room.
"And here," the teacher
said, "is the most famous painting of all, the weeping woman."
The class entered the room.
They stared straight ahead.
The room was empty.
The walls were bare.
The Weeping Woman was gone!
The teacher screamed and the
class gasped. A guard rushed in and pulled an alarm. All the doors locked in
the gallery. The police arrived in screaming police cars. There were guards
everywhere. The Art Gallery of Ontario had been trusted with one of the most
famous paintings in the world and it had been stolen.
The class wasn't allowed to leave
the room. For two hours they sat on the floor while their bags were searched
and they were questioned. None of the students took the painting, Alice knew
that. But the police needed to be thorough.
But if the students didn't take
the painting, then who did?
As the students sat on the floor
of the gallery, playing with their phones and waiting for the police to let
them go. Alice just read her animal book, and she began to look around.
There was a window far at the top
of the wall. It was opened and wind was blowing in. "What about that
window?" Alice asked one of the police officers, "Is that a possible
clue?"
"I don't think so
sweetie," said the cop, "It much too far up for any human to reach,
and besides, it's too small for any adult to slip through."
Alice sat back down. She noticed
the police were dusting for prints. There were finger prints on the wall near
the painting, but they were tiny, they couldn't be from the art thief. They
were much too small.
Alice sat there as the police
searched. No one had any idea what had happened. The gallery was embarrassed,
even humiliated, and reporters from the newspaper had begun to call and ask
about the robbery.
Then Alice looked down. On the
floor, there was some fur, a tiny clump of brown fur.
Alice stood up. She marched over
to the police officer, and she said "I think I have found your thief.
Go ahead and question all the
guards in the building. I am pretty sure you'll find one with several pets. And
I think one of those pets will be a monkey, a small monkey, and a monkey that
has been trained to steal art!"
The police gasped. The teacher
gasped. The students gasped.
The next day, the newspaper
headline screamed:
MEAFORD STUDENT SOLVES ART THEFT!
MEAFORD STUDENT IS A HERO!
