In art, antiques and collectibles news, the FBI offers a big reward in a big, big art theft, corrals a stolen Juan Gris and a New York art dealer pleads guilty to fraud.

From Bloomberg:
FBI Blows Up Rembrandt to Solve Boston’s $500 Million Art Heist

It is the biggest unsolved art theft in U.S. history. In 1990, thieves got away with the only seascape painted by Rembrandt and other works of art from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The FBI doesn’t want such a blemish on its record. It has put up two electronic billboards with a picture of “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee,” a tip-line number and the promise of a $5-million reward. So-o-o, if you’ve happened to see the painting in your neighbor’s family room . . .

From The Art Newspaper:
Stolen Juan Gris painting recovered by FBI

Maybe the FBI will have the same success with the Boston heist as it did with recovering a Juan Gris that walked out of a home in St. Louis six years ago. The bureau launched a sting operation in which an undercover agent expressed interest in buying it. The best part of this story is how the owner acquired the Gris. He was in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Spain in the 1960s. He struck up a relationship with a “striking Russian woman” who sold the painting to the man when he was leaving the country. “I didn’t know Juan Gris from Juan Pepe,” he told the Palm Beach Post. “I just rolled the damned thing up and mailed it” to the States.

From The Daily News:
Lawrence Salander, art dealer to Robert De Niro’s dad, John McEnroe, to plead guilty to $100M fraud

One wonders if disgraced art dealer Lawrence Salander was a fan of “The Producers.” That’s the Mel Brooks movie and play where Broadway producers sell far more than 100 shares in a play they were sure would be a flop. Salander sold double shares in paintings to the likes of tennis great John McEnroe and hedge-funder Roy Lennox. Last year, Salander was hit with an 100-count indictment. Last week, he pleaded guilty to 16 counts of grand larceny and faces up to 18 years in jail.

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 6:39 pm and is filed under News, Worth Points. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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