Painting stolen from gallery in New York 60 years ago shows up in UK
A painting that was stolen from a New York City gallery six decades ago in a $1million heist has been recovered more than 3,000 miles away in the UK.
The painting by French post-impressionist Edouard-Leon Cortés, titled Flower Market Madeleine, was taken from the Herbert Arnot Gallery sometime in the 1950s or 1960s. It has turned up in Lancashire, Art Recovery International announced on Tuesday.
It was one of more than 3,000 paintings that Arnot Gallery manager and salesman Louis Edelman sold and then invoiced buyers under his name – behind his employer’s back.
Edelman in 1966 decided to leave his job at the gallery at 250 West 57th Street to open his own close by. After getting away with selling several thousands of works worth more than $1million, Edelman was arrested by the FBI in Chicago and convicted of transporting stolen art across state lines.
The stolen works have since been popping up for sale at galleries and auction houses across the globe.
Flower Market Madeleine was put up for sale earlier this year by Carnes Fine Art, a dealer in Mawdesley. The work was consigned to Capes Dunn last year by a Cheshire estate who acquired it from the London-based MacConnal-Mason Gallery. Capes Dunn, located near Manchester, sold the painting to Carnes in November 2022.
‘We are very grateful to Bradley Carnes, Capes Dunn, and their vendor for releasing this stolen painting unconditionally to the Arnot Gallery,’ stated Art Recovery International founder and lawyer Christopher Marinello.
‘While in this instance, we were able to convince many of the parties to reimburse the other, eventually there will be those who are out of luck.’
Edelman was given a two-year prison sentence and $10,000 fine. But decades later, most of the paintings are still missing.
Marinello advises anyone who sells or purchases a painting by Cortés or Antoine Blanchard to check for proper authentication with the Arnot Gallery.
‘We have been recovering one or two pictures per year from this 60-year-old theft,’ Marinello stated, ‘And we’re never going to give up until every last one is returned.’
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