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The Purloined Rockwell - Stolen in St. Louis in '73. Found today -- on Steven Spielberg's wall
riverfronttimes.com ^
| February 28, 2007
| Kristen Hinman
Posted on 03/02/2007 8:49:58 PM PST by HAL9000
Excerpt -
Academy Award-winning director and producer Steven Spielberg has turned over to federal authorities Russian Schoolroom, a 1967 oil on canvas by Norman Rockwell that was filched from a Clayton art gallery in 1973, according to the FBI. No charges have been filed in the case, and federal officials say they have no evidence that Spielberg knew the painting had been stolen when he purchased it in 1989.
"It appears that he is an innocent buyer," says St. Louis-based FBI agent Frank Brostrom, a member of the agency's Art Crime Team, who initiated the investigation. Spielberg is an avid Rockwell collector who helped fund the construction in 1993 of the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and who joined its board of directors this past September. According to a December 3 article in the Washington Post, Rockwells from Spielberg's collection adorn numerous rooms in his office compound at Universal Studios in Hollywood.
~ snip ~
(Excerpt) Read more at riverfronttimes.com ...
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: arttheft; normanrockwell; ratcrime; rockwell; russianschoolroom; spielberg; stevenspielberg; theftbyreceiving
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To: HAL9000
41
posted on
03/02/2007 9:50:26 PM PST
by
msnimje
(If we have a choice of two PRO ABORTION candidates, this country is doomed.)
To: Harpo Speaks
Soielberg is an "avid" Rockwell collector and he doesn't know it was stolen? Hey, he's a liberal elite. He don't have to follow no friggin laws. Laws is for da little people.
42
posted on
03/02/2007 9:51:51 PM PST
by
GOPJ
(If the United States gave California to Mexico, Mexicans would be sneaking into Nevada.)
To: HAL9000
43
posted on
03/02/2007 9:52:14 PM PST
by
GraniteStateConservative
(...He had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here...-- Worst.President.Ever.)
To: BunnySlippers
I don't know whether Spielberg sits around Googling anything
How about when he help build the ROCKWELL museum. Think he might have heard about it then?
Google or not, these guys research the art the buy especially when they are fans of the artist. Also when the insure the piece.
44
posted on
03/02/2007 9:53:24 PM PST
by
msnimje
(If we have a choice of two PRO ABORTION candidates, this country is doomed.)
To: HAL9000
To: martin_fierro
Its not bad but it aint Picasso
46
posted on
03/02/2007 9:55:50 PM PST
by
woofie
To: HAL9000
47
posted on
03/02/2007 9:59:02 PM PST
by
HAL9000
(Get a Mac - The Ultimate FReeping Machine)
To: HAL9000
48
posted on
03/02/2007 9:59:28 PM PST
by
tubebender
( Everything east of the San Andreas fault will eventually plunge into the Atlantic Ocean...)
To: BunnySlippers
I'm a Rockwell fan, and have studied him quite a bit. Read a book he wrote, hs biography, and have several books of his prints. I was unaware of the theft of this painting. Why would Spielberg deliberately buy a stolen painting when he's got the funds to buy the legitimate paintings?
He owns multiple Rockwell paintings, and purchased this one in 1989, well before the internet was in common use. At that time, the first attempt to index ftp sites, Archie, was just being developed. You couldn't Google things back then. I find it entirely plausible that he purchased the painting, and discovered it much later. That was a great spoof of ET stealing it, though.
49
posted on
03/02/2007 10:01:02 PM PST
by
Richard Kimball
(Why yes, I do have a stupid picture for any occasion)
To: HAL9000
50
posted on
03/02/2007 10:02:00 PM PST
by
Richard Kimball
(Why yes, I do have a stupid picture for any occasion)
To: Brad from Tennessee
It's hard for me to believe [that] Spielberg [is] an aficionado of Norman Rockwell.
To: Harpo Speaks
Spielberg -- an "avid" collector -- never bothered to google his own Rockwell picture?
Well it was hard to do this in '89 as Al Gore was just inventing the internet and search engines weren't yet around
Who can say before the era of the internet how much info would be available on stolen paintings.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here.
52
posted on
03/02/2007 10:11:19 PM PST
by
festus
(The constitution may be flawed but its a whole lot better than what we have now.)
To: HAL9000
Rockwell's paintings are all so Americana, I really am surprised that Spielberg is a collector, much less an avid collector.
53
posted on
03/02/2007 10:18:59 PM PST
by
EDINVA
To: BunnySlippers
I tend to agree with you. For Spielberg, a hundred grand is only marginally higher than the cost of wallpaper.
To: Rembrandt_fan
I like Ellie Siskind. The portraits of single figures
uses a syndrome of intimate mood, subtle emotion and common memories, with masterly color, texture and setting. All Siskind's work is infused with the artist's affectionate fascination and perhaps love for the subjects. All these components make the median come to life.
55
posted on
03/02/2007 10:27:50 PM PST
by
Brad from Tennessee
(Anything a politician gives you he has first stolen from you)
To: HAL9000
Headline should read:
Steven Stealberg Euphemizes His Way Out of Charges
56
posted on
03/02/2007 10:31:34 PM PST
by
ApplegateRanch
(Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
To: martin_fierro
Looks like Aptos High School.
57
posted on
03/02/2007 10:32:33 PM PST
by
hedgetrimmer
(I'm a billionaire! Thanks WTO and the "free trade" system!--Hu Jintao top 10 worst dictators)
To: msnimje
Also when they insure the piece.
That point raises a BIG question -- surely such wealthy collectors insure their art -- but any appraiser or insurance company would have known it was stolen -- so did Spielberg NOT insure this piece??? That might indicate guilty knowledge.
58
posted on
03/02/2007 10:35:10 PM PST
by
Enchante
(Chamberlain Democrats embraced by terrorists and America-haters worldwide!!)
To: HAL9000
It figures that he'd have a stolen painting of children being brainwashed in a commie school.
To: ChildOfThe60s
Sounds more like he was concerned the sniffing was getting too close and made a preemptive strike.
Wonder if Speilberg PO'ed anybody in the recent weeks?
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