[MSN] They Found It! Goya Recovered by FBI

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

They Found It! Goya Recovered by FBI
Thanks to tips received as a result of "comprehensive media coverage of the
theft," Goya's "Children With a Cart," stolen en route from the Toledo
Museum to the Guggenheim Museum, has been recovered in Newark and "appears
to be unharmed," the FBI announced today
(http://newark.fbi.gov/pressrel/2006/goyapressrelease1.pdf). 

Previous news reports that suggested the theft had probably been an "inside
job" were incorrect, federal agents said. 
According to the just-published AP story, FBI spokesman Steven Siegel
indicated that "the thieves apparently did not know what was inside the
truck when they broke into it. 'It was a target of opportunity. They
probably thought it was a truck full of PlayStations,'" Siegel said. He
added that there had been no arrests, but the investigation was continuing,
according to the AP's Wayne Parry. Few other details were released.
Glad to get back its Goya, the Toledo Museum is taking it home, rather than
allowing it to be displayed, as planned, in the Guggenheim's Spanish
Painting from El Greco to Picasso.
The name of the shipping firm whose truck was burglarized has still not been
released, but a Guggenheim source told CultureGrrl that it specializes in
art transport and "our registrar says it is a company that everybody uses
and will still have to use, because there are so few of them and it's the
best."
If this is the best, CultureGrrl is depressed!

http://www.artsjournal.com/



------------------------------


FBI Recovers Stolen Goya Painting

By WAYNE PARRY
The Associated Press
Monday, November 20, 2006; 9:28 PM

NEWARK, N.J. -- The FBI said Monday that it has recovered a 1778 painting by
the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya that was stolen as it was being taken
to an exhibition earlier this month.

"Children with a Cart," which disappeared en route from the Toledo Museum of
Art in Ohio to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City and was
valued at about $1.1 million, appeared to be unharmed, said Les Wiser, agent
in charge of the Newark FBI office.

 

Francisco de Goya's 1778 oil painting "Children with a Cart" is seen in this
photo was originally provided Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006, by Ohio's Toledo
Museum of Art. FBI agents in New Jersey have recovered the painting by the
Spanish artist that was stolen as it was being taken to an exhibition
earlier this month, the agency announced Monday, Nov. 20, 2006.The painting
was stolen on its way from Ohio to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New
York City. It is estimated to be worth about $1.1 million.(AP Photo/Toledo
Museum of Art) (AP) 

     

Japan's annual dolphin hunt, shown in this 2003 photo, has faced opposition
for years. A group of scientists and administrators of zoos and aquariums is
asking Japan to put tighter restrictions on the government-sanctioned event.
(Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - AP)
 
 
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Steven Siegel, a spokesman for the FBI, said the bureau recovered the
painting Saturday in New Jersey, but would not be more specific about where
or how it was located. No arrests were made, but the case remains under
investigation, he said.

The FBI said extensive news coverage of the theft led to tips that enabled
the agency to recover the painting.

The painting was taken from an art transporter's truck that was parked
overnight in a hotel parking lot in Stroudsburg, Pa., on Nov. 8, authorities
said. It had been scheduled to be displayed in the exhibition "Spanish
Painting from El Greco to Picasso: Time, Truth, and History," which opened
at the Guggenheim on Nov. 17.

Siegel said the thieves apparently did not know what was inside the truck
when they broke into it. "It was a target of opportunity. They probably
thought it was a truck full of PlayStations," he said.

The image of four children at play was insured for about $1 million and was
to be exhibited with about 135 paintings by Spanish masters.

The insurer had offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to
the recovery of the artwork.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/