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09.12.2009 09:48 PM |
Warhol Paintings Stolen in Los Angeles
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/ar...r=1&ref=design
A multimillion-dollar collection of artwork by Andy Warhol was stolen from the home of a wealthy art collector in West Los Angeles last week, Los Angeles police said Friday.
The valuable collection included 10 silk-screen paintings of famous sports figures, among them Muhammad Ali, Chris Evert, Jack Nicklaus and O. J. Simpson. According to investigators, the artwork was on display in the dining room of Richard Weisman, a businessman and art connoisseur whose well-known collection was featured in a book he published in 2003, “Picasso to Pop: The Richard Weisman Collection.”
The paintings are about 40 inches by 40 inches each, and were created between 1977 and 1979.
They were discovered missing on Sept. 3, when a nanny who worked for the family entered Mr. Weisman’s home, which is located on Angelo Drive, and noticed that the paintings were no longer on the walls, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement on Friday. The nanny quickly left the house and went to a neighbor’s home, where she called the police.
Mr. Weisman had several other valuable works of art in his home, but none of those were disturbed, Detective Mark Sommer of the police department’s art theft detail told The Associated Press. He said it was unclear how the paintings were removed and who may have taken them, but that a maroon van was spotted in the driveway of the home around the time of the robbery.
“This was a very clean crime,” Detective Sommer told The A.P., adding, “For some reason they had an interest in this collection.”
Mr. Weisman could not be immediately reached for comment late Friday. The Los Angeles police said a $1 million reward was being offered for information leading to the recovery of the images.
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