Baltimore Museum of the Arts regains the stolen Renoir

ARLINGTON. Put up for auction in 2012, On the Shore of the Seine, owned by Pierre Auguste Renoir and bought by Marcia Fuqua at the flea market for $ 7, returned to the Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore Museum of Art), from which it was stolen in 1951. So, the federal court in Virginia ruled on January 10, ending the story of the “crazy tale” that began on July 27, 2012, when Fukua brought the landscape to the Potomack auction house in Arlington, Virginia, claiming to have found it in a box with different junk on a flea the market. She got a reception at the auction house because there was a sign on the picture frame with the inscription “Renoir”.

Potomack confirmed the authenticity of the work and sent a request to the FBI and The Art Loss Register to confirm that this work of art is not among the lost or stolen. The museum’s spokeswoman emphasized that the FBI is not involved in works of art stolen in the 1950s and does not have a single register of lost masterpieces of the time.

As a result, the auction house "Potomack" announced that "Landscape on the banks of the Seine" will be put up for auction on September 29, 2012 with an estimate of 75,000- $ 100,000 US dollars. In a press release, a house spokesman noted that the work once belonged to Herbert L. May, the husband of Saidie Adler May, who was the main sponsor of the works of art for the Baltimore Museum. The director of the public relations museum, Anne Mannix-Brown, drew attention to a link to the May family and sent a request to the curators department. “We searched for any electronic records of this work, but didn’t find anything,” she says.

Meanwhile, the story of the treasure in the flea market interested Yan Shapira from the Washington Post, who began his investigation. He found a document in the museum’s library, indicating that the painting was exhibited in it in 1937.

Moreover, the picture on the list had a “loan” number, which indicates that the landscape was provided by its owner on credit to the museum. Continuing the investigation, Shapira went to old documents stating that the canvas was stolen from the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1951. Just at that time, Sadie May issued her last will, according to which, the canvas was bequeathed to the Baltimore Museum.

Three days before selling Renoir to Potomack, enough evidence was finally gathered to transfer the case to the FBI. As a result, the auction house removed the picture from the auction and passed it to the FBI.

Last March, the US Attorney General of Virginia began a judicial settlement of mutual claims. Moreover, the insurance company, which paid the Museum of Arts of Baltimore in 1952 for the stolen work $ 2500, refused any claims. Potomack also stated its disinterest in work. So to fight with the Fukua Museum had to be alone.

After it was proved that the work was stolen from the museum, Fukua did not have any hope, since, in accordance with established US law, "a thief cannot transfer ownership of the stolen work to even a bona fide buyer."

After a 30-day period to appeal the court decision by Fukua, the museum hopes to receive the painting in its ownership. “We would have carried out its urgent restoration in order to put Renoir’s masterpiece on display in March,” Mannix-Brown said. “As for the story that Renoir painted this work on the banks of the Seine for his bride, then this is just a legend. We would like to do more research, ”she said.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru