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U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah
Saldana turned over the 1911 cubist oil painting to French
officials in a ceremony at the French Embassy.
"We're so glad that it's going to be shown to the world again,"
Saldana told reporters.
"La Coiffeuse," or "The Hairdresser," was last displayed in 1998
in Munich, Germany, and was returned to the National Museum of
Modern Art in Paris. The museum reported it stolen from its
archives in 2001.
Following a lead, customs agents found the painting in a
December 2014 FedEx shipment from Belgium to Newark, New Jersey.
The shipping label described the contents as a handicraft worth
30 euros ($37).
Officials declined to comment on the investigation into the
theft. Two experts from the Paris museum authenticated the
painting in January.
Previous art repatriations to France have included works by
Edgar Degas, Camille Pissaro and Andre Breton. The Homeland
Security Investigations unit of U.S. Customs has returned more
than 7,800 items to their home countries since 2007, the agency
said in a statement.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Lisa Lambert)
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