Summary: Every September since 2012, year of solving the Baltimore Museum Renoir art theft, sustains hopes of solving the Houston Renoir art theft Sept. 8, 2011.
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| Will "Madeleine Leaning on Her Elbow With Flowers in Her Hair," painted in 1919, be recovered before its 100th anniversary in 2019? Artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, one year after "Madeleine," in "Portrait de Pierre-Auguste Renoir," 1919 oil on canvas by Marie-Félix Hippolyte-Lucas (Nov. 9, 1854-April 17, 1925): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
The Houston Renoir art theft Sept. 8, 2011, in Harris County, southeast Texas, accounts for the ninth entry on Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) lists of the top 10 unsolved art crimes. Its seventh anniversary bodes well for bringing back Madeleine's portrait because of the Norman Rockwell Lazybones and Van Gogh Museum art theft casualty recoveries in 2017.
The year 2017 likewise commemorates the 66th anniversary of the Renoir riverscape art theft Nov. 16-17, 1951, and the fifth anniversary of that oil's coming home. The 5.5- by 9.13-inch (14- by 23.2-centimeter) oil on linen damask designated On the Shore of the Seine (Paysage Bords de Seine) demonstrates diminutive, disguisable dimensions. Exile ended before its expected auction Sept. 29, 2012, in Alexandria, Virginia, about 50 miles (80.47 kilometers) from its legal home in Maryland's Museum of Art.
The Baltimore Museum of Art archives furnish as the theft date the timespan from Friday in the evening to Saturday shortly after noon, Nov. 16-17, 1951. They give as the distraction the concurrent show, From [Jean-Auguste-Dominique] Ingres [Aug. 29, 1780-Jan. 14, 1867] to [Eugène Henri Paul] Gauguin [June 7, 1848-May 8, 1903]. They have the title to the portable Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Feb. 25, 1841-Dec. 3, 1919) held by the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company for honoring the $2,500 claim.
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| Baltimore Museum of Art's triumphant display of Renoir's On the Shore of the Seine during "The Renoir Returns" exhibit, running from Sunday, March 30, to Sunday, July 20, 2014: Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, via Allianz press release Thursday, April 3, 2014 |
The Baltimore Museum of Art archives furnish as the theft date the timespan from Friday in the evening to Saturday shortly after noon, Nov. 16-17, 1951. They give as the distraction the concurrent show, From [Jean-Auguste-Dominique] Ingres [Aug. 29, 1780-Jan. 14, 1867] to [Eugène Henri Paul] Gauguin [June 7, 1848-May 8, 1903]. They have the title to the portable Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Feb. 25, 1841-Dec. 3, 1919) held by the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company for honoring the $2,500 claim.
Provenance documentation indicates sale in June 1925 by Madame Papillon (Louise Alphonsine Fournaise [March 1846-1937], wife of Joseph Louis Papillon [died 1871]) for 5,000 francs ($200-$250). It jumps from the sale to the Bernheim-Jeune art gallery of Paris, France, toward purchase 25 or 26 years before the Baltimore Museum Renoir art theft.
Provenance-related documents from the pre-digitized twentieth century keep six successively legal titles, with the third and fourth legitimate possessors North American admirers of French Impressionist art. They list as the third possessor Herbert L. May, art collector, lawyer and purchaser from the Parisian art gallery Nov. 22, 1925, or Jan. 11, 1926. They mention as fourth the art collector's wife, Saidie Adler Lehman May (Feb. 18, 1879-May 27, 1951), lender of the painting to the museum in 1937. They note the loaner status of Renoir's riverscape, dated to 1879, for the next 14 years, until the death of its lender in New York City.
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| Louise-Alphonsine Fournaise Papillon initiated the diminutive riverscape's provenance as first known seller; Louise-Alphonsine (center), in blue-ribboned yellow hat, leans on railing near her brother, Alphonse Fournaise Jr. (left), in Renoir's "Le déjeuner des canotiers (Luncheon of the Boating Party), 1880-1881 oil on canvas; The Phillips Collection, Washington DC: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
Provenance-related documents from the pre-digitized twentieth century keep six successively legal titles, with the third and fourth legitimate possessors North American admirers of French Impressionist art. They list as the third possessor Herbert L. May, art collector, lawyer and purchaser from the Parisian art gallery Nov. 22, 1925, or Jan. 11, 1926. They mention as fourth the art collector's wife, Saidie Adler Lehman May (Feb. 18, 1879-May 27, 1951), lender of the painting to the museum in 1937. They note the loaner status of Renoir's riverscape, dated to 1879, for the next 14 years, until the death of its lender in New York City.
Estate inventories observe permanent title occurring just under six months before the Baltimore Museum Renoir art theft through her will offering the museum all May artworks.
The Baltimore Museum of Art presents itself as the fifth legal title-holding owner and possessor and, with payment back of the insurance claim payout, the seventh.
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| Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), "Perspective view from northeast," 2005 image by James W. Rosenthal for The National Park Service's Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS): No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government, via Library of Congress Photo, Print, Drawing |
The Baltimore Museum of Art presents itself as the fifth legal title-holding owner and possessor and, with payment back of the insurance claim payout, the seventh.
The Fireman's Fund Insurance Company queues up as the twentieth century's sixth legitimate title-holder despite an unknown qualifying as knowing or unknowing possessor of stolen art. Recovered artwork returns to its last known legal title-holder so that any insurance company retains ownership and possession unless that insurer resolves to resell those rights. The insurer of the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, stands by no sell-backs should the AGNSW's stolen van Mieris Cavalier ever surface.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema's ruling Jan. 10, 2014, treated as legal the insurer's recovered Baltimore Museum Renoir art theft casualty title transfer to the museum.
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| A tale of two stolen Renoirs, with one stolen in the 20th century and recovered in the 21st, while the other, stolen in the 21st century's second decade, remains missing; "Madeleine Leaning on Her Elbow With Flowers in Her Hair" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, stolen Thursday, Sep. 8, 2011, from West Houston, Texas, during an armed robbery: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Public Domain, via FBI |
Acknowledgment
My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.
Image credits:
Image credits:
Will "Madeleine Leaning on Her Elbow With Flowers in Her Hair," painted in 1919, be recovered before its 100th anniversary in 2019? Artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, one year after "Madeleine," in "Portrait de Pierre-Auguste Renoir," 1919 oil on canvas by Marie-Félix Hippolyte-Lucas (Nov. 9, 1854-April 17, 1925): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Renoir_by_Marie-Félix_Hippolyte-Lucas.jpg
Baltimore Museum of Art's triumphant display of Renoir's On the Shore of the Seine during "The Renoir Returns" exhibit, running from Sunday, March 30, to Sunday, July 20, 2014: Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, via Allianz press release Thursday, April 3, 2014, @ https://www.allianz.com/en/press/news/business/insurance/news_2014-04-03.html/
Louise-Alphonsine Fournaise Papillon initiated the diminutive riverscape's provenance as first known seller; Louise-Alphonsine (center), in blue-ribboned yellow hat, leans on railing near her brother, Alphonse Fournaise Jr. (left), in Renoir's "Le déjeuner des canotiers (Luncheon of the Boating Party), 1880-1881 oil on canvas; The Phillips Collection, Washington DC: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pierre-Auguste_Renoir_-_Luncheon_of_the_Boating_Party_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), "Perspective view from northeast," 2005 image by James W. Rosenthal for The National Park Service's Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS): No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government, via Library of Congress Photo, Print, Drawing @ https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.md1653.photos/?sp=5&st=image; LOC HABS BMA main page (6 images) @ https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.md1653.photos?st=gallery; image details also via Library of Congress @ https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/md/md1600/md1653/data/md1653cap.pdf
A tale of two stolen Renoirs, with one stolen in the 20th century and recovered in the 21st, while the other, stolen in the 21st century's second decade, remains missing; "Madeleine Leaning on Her Elbow With Flowers in Her Hair" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, stolen Thursday, Sep. 8, 2011, from West Houston, Texas, during an armed robbery: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Public Domain, via FBI @ https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/new-top-ten-art-crime
For further information:
For further information:
Ancestry.com. "Saidie Adler May in the U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current." U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Available @ http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=iwv77&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=saidie%20adler&gsfn_x=0&gsln=may&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=maryland&msbdy=1879&msddy=1951&catbucket=rstp&MSAV=1&MSV=0&uidh=ft7&pcat=34&h=114344709&dbid=60525&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1
Available @ http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=iwv77&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=saidie%20adler&gsfn_x=0&gsln=may&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=maryland&msbdy=1879&msddy=1951&catbucket=rstp&MSAV=1&MSV=0&uidh=ft7&pcat=34&h=114344709&dbid=60525&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1
Holland, Lucie. 5 September 2012. "'Lost' Renoir Painting at Potomack Company's Sept. 29 Auction." Alexandria VA: The Potomack Company.
Available @ http://www.potomackcompany.com/press/current/020)%20Lost%20Renoir%20Painting%20at%20Potomack%20Company%20September%2029%20Auction.pdf
Available @ http://www.potomackcompany.com/press/current/020)%20Lost%20Renoir%20Painting%20at%20Potomack%20Company%20September%2029%20Auction.pdf
JewishGen, comp. "Sadie Adler May in the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR)." JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.
Available @ http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=JG_BurialRegistry&h=2089042&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=iwv77&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&rhSource=60525
Available @ http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=JG_BurialRegistry&h=2089042&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=iwv77&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&rhSource=60525
Marriner, Derdriu. 8 September 2017. "Renoir Oil Painting Theft in Houston, Texas Unsolved From Sept. 8, 2011." Earth and Space News Blog. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/renoir-oil-painting-theft-in-houston.html
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/renoir-oil-painting-theft-in-houston.html
McCauley, Mary Carole. 15 February 2014. "A First Look at Stolen Renoir Reveals, Retains Some Secrets." The Baltimore Sun > Collections > Baltimore Museum.
Available @ http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-02-15/entertainment/bs-ae-renoir-returns-20140215_1_wayne-biggs-stolen-renoir-marcia-martha-fuqua/2
Available @ http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-02-15/entertainment/bs-ae-renoir-returns-20140215_1_wayne-biggs-stolen-renoir-marcia-martha-fuqua/2
Shapira, Ian. 27 March 2014. "'Flea Market' Renoir Returns to the Baltimore Museum of Art Six Decades After Its Theft." The Washington Post > Local.
Available @ https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/flea-market-renoir-returns-to-the-baltimore-museum-of-art-six-decades-after-its-theft/2014/03/26/a79df14e-b517-11e3-b899-20667de76985_story.html?utm_term=.1a2b5e6463d1
Available @ https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/flea-market-renoir-returns-to-the-baltimore-museum-of-art-six-decades-after-its-theft/2014/03/26/a79df14e-b517-11e3-b899-20667de76985_story.html?utm_term=.1a2b5e6463d1
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