STOLEN NORMAN ROCKWELL PAINTING FOUND IN SPIELBERG’S HOME

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Art Crime Team (ACT) reported that an original Norman Rockwell painting, “Russian Schoolroom,” stolen during a late night burglary in Clayton, Mo., in 1973, was found in the home of movie mogul Steven Spielberg who was unaware it was stolen. At the time of theft, the painting was part of a Norman Rockwell Exhibit being sponsored by the Chicago’s Circle Galleries, now known as Arts International Galleries. This painting is also referred to as “The Russian Classroom” or “Russian Schoolchildren.”

The painting’s location was unknown between 1973 and 1988, at which time it was sold at auction in New Orleans, La. In 2004, ACT agents determined the painting had been advertised for sale at a Norman Rockwell exhibit in New York in 1989.

A “cold case” investigation was initiated and the painting’s description and photograph were posted on the FBI’s Art Crime Team’s Web site at www.fbi.gov. Members of Spielberg’s staff learned the painting was stolen after they viewed the theft notice; they alerted the FBI to its existence in the director’s collection. Spielberg purchased the painting in 1989 from a legitimate dealer and had not known that it was a stolen work of art. He is cooperating fully with the FBI and will retain possession of the painting until its disposition can be determined.
Source: FBI