Posted on 04/07/2013 7:12:27 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
A Virginia woman claiming to have purchased Renoir painting for $7 at a flea market has been unmasked and is now under FBI investigation after it emerged the painting was stolen in 1951.
Marcia 'Martha' Fuqua from Loudon County, Virginia, had tried to remain anonymous and said she purchased the painting simply for its frame and had no special ‘understanding of art.’
But it has now emerged that the painting 'On the Shore of The Seine' was reported stolen from the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1951, according to the Washington Post.
The FBI seized the painting late last year after learning that information and it has since emerged that Fuqua's mother was a painter who specialised in reproducing the work of several artists including Renoir.....
In Fuqua's September interview she told the Post, 'It’s all very coincidental ... I am one of those people that believes that things happen for a reason.'
'I noticed the frame on this picture and I liked the frame. I bid $7 and I won the box,' she said.
Though the frame boldly shows a center plaque reading RENOIR on it, she said she never thought that it would be authentic, it having been found in a box at a flea market after all.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
All right — I’ll bite — what real life image are we looking here???
I read the article and it doesn’t give a clue as to how the authorities could have known about it being in a flea market.
It’s quite common for the authorities to not release certain information lest they compromise the case, methods, or eyewitnesses.
I think it was meant to be used as a Rorschach Test.
She did try to sell it at auction.
From Judge to Determine Fate of Renoir Stolen in 1951
After it was appraised at $75,000 to $100,000, she made arrangements to have it sold through an auction to be conducted by the Potomack Company. The auction house announced shortly before the sale that it was pulling the painting from its listings after a Washington Post reporter uncovered its history.
How she got it could have been a true story or it could have been something she just made up to cover how she really got it. That's why it's being investigated.
She looked exactly like a gal who was in my 19th Century Art class in college. When the prof put the slide up on the screen, every student in the class did a double take...needless to say, she was a bit embarassed.
She trumpeted its flea market provenance in at least one published interview.
“After the auction house was contacted by a Washington Post reporter who revealed the piece’s theft, the FBI stepped in, immediately removing the painting from Fuqua’s possession.”
I see a man dumping Rorschach into the river.
FMCDH(BITS)
If she bought it just for the frame why was the painting still in it ?
As well most thieves sell stolen property within days if not hours. So her momma is suspect due her profession / hobby skill set.
Momma may have passed away recently and daughter tried to cash in...
My “what if” on the matter....aka serious wild ass guess...SWAG !
***Looks like she wasted her $7.***
Renoir was a good artist. This looks like he used this canvas to wipe excess paint from his brushes after he was done painting for the day.
Too bad. Two hairs would make the booger a masterpiece.
not just today.....still cannot understand what a “Jackson Pollack” is....what crap...
Oooops How did that happen???
Hopefully, she’s only out the $7 and not tons of legal fees for this investigation.
She no doubt has her fingers crossed that her deceased mother’s fingerprints don’t show up on the picture frame.
Does that mean you know where it sat from 1952 thru 1958? /sarcasm
She said she stored it in a plastic trash bag for two years, even in a shed at one point, before having it authenticated as a genuine Renoir.
Supposedly the brother recanted his story about how long it had been in the family.
Maybe all this publicity over its theft and sequestration for 60 years is part of a plan to drive up its value.
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