Painting stolen from New York gallery in 1960s turns up 3,300 miles away in UK
A painting which was stolen from a New York gallery 60 years ago has been recovered 3,300 miles away in the UK.
The painting, titled Flower Market Madeleine, was one of 3,000 pieces stolen from the Arnot Gallery in New York over a 12-year period in the 1950s and 1960s. It was thought the painting, by French post-impressionist Edouard-Leon Cortés, would never be recovered until it was found in Lancashire.
Flower Market Madeleine was being offered for sale by Carnes Fine Art, a dealer in Mawdesley, Lancashire. Christopher A. Marinello, lawyer and founder of Art Recovery International, spent several months unwinding the sale.
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He said: “We are very grateful to Bradley Carnes, Capes Dunn, and their vendor for releasing this stolen painting unconditionally to the Arnot Gallery. While in this instance, we were able to convince many of the parties to reimburse the other, eventually there will be those who are out of luck.
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“I cannot stress enough the importance of performing due diligence and authentication checks which would have uncovered this stolen painting decades earlier." Flower Market Madeleine was originally on display in the Arnot Gallery in New York, once the largest US importer of commercial European Art.
However a daring heist saw around 3,000 paintings stolen during the 1950s and 1960s. Over the years the stolen artworks, worth over $1 million, have been reappearing for sale at auction houses and galleries around the world.
It was being offered for sale by Carnes Fine Art, a dealer in Mawdesley, Lancashire (Art Recovery Int / LLC / SWNS)In 1966, Louis Edelman, gallery manager and salesman for the Arnot Gallery, decided to leave his job there to open his own gallery nearby. It was later discovered that during his tenure, Edelman was selling the gallery’s paintings and invoicing buyers in his own name.
The thief was eventually arrested by the FBI and convicted of transporting stolen artworks across state lines. While Edelman was sentenced to two years in prison and given a $10,000 fine, most of the 3,000 paintings were never recovered.
During the criminal trial, one gallery owner was questioned on whether he knew the paintings he was buying from Edelman were stolen. He said: “Well, not all of them.”
Mr Marinello, one of the world’s foremost experts in recovering stolen, looted, and missing works of art, remains committed to recovering all of the stolen paintings. Over the years he has recovered stolen and looted artwork valued at over $500 million on behalf of museums, collectors, dealers, artists, governments, cultural and religious institutions and insurance companies.
He said: “Anyone buying or selling a painting by Edouard-Leon Cortés or Antoine Blanchard is advised to check with the Arnot Gallery for proper authentication. We have been recovering one or two pictures per year from this 60-year-old theft and we’re never going to give up until every last one is returned”.
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