Stolen Paintings
 

Have you ever had a painting stolen?

Well, I had two ones stolen these afternoon from a small gallery downtown.

The gallery owner called the police and reported the stealing. A little later one police officer told her he had seen two guys on a motorcycle holding three paintings (a lady witnessed them stealing the paintings), but he could never imagine they had stolen them.

I just wonder what these guys are going to do with them.

So sorry to hear about that, Claudemir! I hope the gallery had insurance on the works they were showing.

Make as big a splash as you can, a media circus if you can manage it. Think of the advantage! You're in such demand, that art-crazed criminals are willing to risk all the law will allow to have your paintings!

Congratulations, Claudemir, we should all be so lucky !

(I'm not really being facetious; nevertheless, I hope you can either recover the paintings, or be fairly compensated)

How horrible Claudemir, I'm very sorry to hear about this too.

Hopefully you will be fairly compensated as Richard said, and with much sympathy, I think Richard certainly has a good point. They must have been driven mad with passion for your work! or just greedily have their eye on the financial rewards to be had from it, either way I say go for a publicity storm too - lots of deserved coverage for you and hopefully the work will be found as a result!

Good luck.
MaryJane.

Thank you for your kind words.

Unfortunately it was a small gallery and they don't have any insurance. But I will keep on showing my work there because most of my work which was sold in this city was sold there.

I called some tabloids and radio stations to report the case, a reporter is coming to my place this afternoon and on Wednesday I'm going to be interviewed by a major radio station. As Richard mentioned, this can be good news.

Claudemir, I'm so sorry. It is an awful feeling of violation when that happens (I've lost a couple of seminal works over the years). Let's hope the publicity wave works some wonders for you.

The eminent artist Nelson Shanks, made a huge media splash a few years ago when a certain client failed to pay the $328,000.00 fee he owed for his portrait! The public noticed that!

Good luck!

Garth

Bonfim, this is terrible news and I am very sorry to hear it. I really can't understand why they stole your work--I would think artwork would be difficult to re-sell at full value and difficult to sell, period, when the word is out that it is stolen. Media coverage should help. Make sure they print photos of the stolen work!

Thanks Garth and Alex,

The media is helping a lot, I got half page in a major tabloid. The citizens are aware now and I think the criminals will be reported sooner or later.

What a way to turn a bad situation into a potentially good one. You may find that this publicity turns out to be worth far more to you in the long run than the value of the stolen paintings.

I hope so.