The New York Sun has a front page story this morning on a Goya painting stolen on its way to the Guggenheim in New York last week:
"The painting, 'Children With a Cart' (1778), disappeared as it was being transported through Scranton, Pa., from the Toledo Museum of Art by a professional art transport company, museum officials said. It was scheduled to hang in the 'Spanish Painting From El Greco to Picasso: Time, Truth, and History' exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum starting November 17. The painting was insured for $1 million, and the insurance company has put up a $50,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the painting. ... A spokeswoman for the [FBI] said the details of how the painting was stolen, and when, wouldn't be released until later this week."
Derek Fincham at the Illicit Cultural Property Blog asks:
"Why was this work stolen? Surely, the market for the work is quite small, as nobody will be able to claim good faith in buying or selling the work. The thieves may be attempting to ransom the work back to the museum. Criminal penalties are far lower for kidnapping a work of art than they would be for, say, kidnapping a person. The other possibility is that a wealthy collector may have requested it stolen for her own private collection."
The New York Times story is here. Here is an image of the painting.
