$1M art whodunit at Upper E. Side party
MAYBE IT WAS Colonel Mustard who pulled off the Upper East Side heist — but right now, cops don’t have a clue.
An evening in a Fifth Ave. high-rise ended with a visit from the NYPD and a still-unanswered question: Who stole seven figurines from a multimillion-dollar apartment?
The high-priced whodunit of nearly $1 million in art was still a mystery late Monday, nearly three days after the crime.
Alexis Gregory, the 81-yearold co-founder of Vendome Press — a publisher of illustrated books on interior design, the fine arts, French culture and jewelry — threw a highfalutin shindig for 26 guests Friday evening.
They gathered at his building on Fifth Ave. near E. 72nd St., where copper heiress Huguette Clark owned three apartments until her death in 2011 at the age of 104. The apartments were later sold to three different buyers, for $24 million, $19 million and $12 million.
Gregory’s 10th-floor apartment, which recently listed for $4.5 million, is nothing to sniff at. He sleeps in one of two beds that once belonged to Napoleon, according to a police source.
On Friday, Gregory hosted a piano concert and art exhibit at his tony three-bedroom apartment. Shortly after the guests left about 11:15 p.m., a member of his house staff realized seven of Gregory’s prized possessions were missing.
The miniature gold statue of Christ? Gone. The framed miniature portrait, adorned with jewels, of Louis XV? Gone.
Three other miniatures — an ivory angel statue, gold Italian dancers and a gold figurine of a man in a bejeweled house — were also pilfered, as were a jeweled ivory pendant and a portrait carved out of ivory.
Some of the items date to the 16th century.
Detectives are looking for surveillance video in and around the building, a much more sophisticated effort than in Clue, the classic crime-solving game.
Gregory didn’t have video surveillance equipment in his home. And sources said the host didn’t hire private security for the event.
On Monday, Gregory, sitting in a wheelchair pushed by an attendant, was holding a cane and dressed like an English lord. He answered every single one of a reporter’s questions the same way — by tersely saying “No.”
Gregory is known for throwing private parties, according to acquaintances.
Born in Zurich, he came to the United States as a child and graduated in art history magna cum laude from Harvard in 1957.
In addition to Vendome Press, Gregory was the co-publisher of the Journal of Art and has written several books on travel and the Gilded Age.
According to reports, his art collection includes Italian Renaissance bronzes, French and Italian old master pictures of the 17th and 18th centuries, and French 19th century paintings.