Woman 'who bought Renoir for $7 at flea market' faces FBI investigation .... painting was stolen

The Daily Mail Online ^ | April 7, 2013 | NINA GOLGOWSK

[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.

[Robert DeLong]

Well let's look at what the article provides.

A picture of her from 2010 in blackjack school.

Fuqua's mother graduated Goucher College with a degree in fine art, before in 1957 receiving a master’s degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Hard to tell if she received her masters in 1957 or fine art degree, but I assume it was the fine art degree.

From her picture she appears to have been born in the laste 40's, but more likely in the 50's. So she was either not born or the youngest art thief in history.

Extremely high probability she did not steal it. Maybe they are trying to determine if mom stole it based on the brother's initial accusation that it has been in the family for 50 to 60 years.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Uncle Chip.

[Robert DeLong]

If she had needed money she sure didn’t get it by strealing the painting. Not sure mom even had the opportunity to paint reproduction and replace original with it. While the article states in 1957 she either graduated with her art degree or obtained her Masters Degree but it is not really clear which was accomplised in 1957 because of the poor manner that information was presented. So I doubt that she possessed the necessary skills to pull of a quality reproduction of Renoir. If, however, at whatever her age was in 1951, mom that is, possessed the talent to reproduce Renoir’s style then she could have supplied that to the actual art thief/thieves and stored the paining for them. But even that I see as doubtful. The article fails to really elaborate on her skills, but rather only insinuates the possibility since she apparently was know to have created reproductions.

[Robert DeLong]

Heavy drug usage will do that I am told.

[Uncle Chip]

Extremely high probability she did not steal it.

But fencing stolen property is against the law.

It might be one thing to say that I found it amongst my mom's things, but the "I got it at a flea market" story is standard fencing lingo.

[Hot Tabasco]

I was looking at a print of a large one, one day, and suddenly a real-life image of what he was painting must have looked like snapped into my head,

40 years later I still rmemeber that sudden feeling,

LSD has been known to cause flashbacks, even decades later......

[Neidermeyer]

Looked up Maryland , no statute of limitations on ANY felony. If you’re going to steal a masterpiece wait til it’s on display in another state.

[Betis70]

>>She looked exactly like a gal who was in my 19th Century Art class

Dang, you’re old. I didn’t realize women could go to college in the 19th Century.
;)

[Mr. K]

LOL- this was way different

I wish everyone could experience it

[Mr. K]

When I saw one of his paintings, it was of a bridge over some sort of water garden. I had an instantaneous flash of the actual water garden in my mind, I dont know how or why- it was so strong and vivid it nearly knocked me over.

Quite an amazing experience- it was if I was instantaneously transported there and saw the actual thing, and transported back (in like a half a second)

[Lazamataz]

Not sure how she missed the identifying watermark:

[Lazamataz]

It might be one thing to say that I found it amongst my mom's things, but the "I got it at a flea market" story is standard fencing lingo.

So what if you actually got it from a flea market?

Would the FBI investigate the fleas?

Fleas are lousy liars.

[JoeProBono]

The original was slightly obscured