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The paintings were recovered by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation in the Boston area in October, a federal official
said on Thursday. The FBI in August had offered a $20,000 reward
for tips leading to their recovery.
The six oil paintings by Wyeth, the patriarch of a line of
painters known for Maine seascapes, were taken in May 2013 from
the home of a prominent real estate developer in the state. The
paintings were estimated to be worth up to tens of millions of
dollars, officials said.
Four were recovered in a Beverly Hills, California, pawn shop in
2014, according to the FBI. Three men pleaded guilty in federal
courts in Maine and California to charges of trafficking in
stolen goods for transporting the paintings. No one has yet been
charged with stealing the art, and an investigation is ongoing.
Born in Needham, Massachusetts, in 1882, Wyeth got his start as
an illustrator of books and magazines. He gained acclaim for
painting seascapes after settling on the rugged coast of Port
Clyde, Maine, where he lived until his death in 1945. Three of
Wyeth's five children - Andrew, Henriette and Carolyn - also
became noted artists, as did his grandson, Jamie.
While the family is associated with Maine seascapes, the missing
paintings are of other subjects. One, "The Encounter on
Freshwater Cliff," features a swordsman dressed in
Renaissance-style clothing standing over what appears to be a
slain foe. The other, "Go, Dutton, and that right speedily,"
features men in medieval-looking attire peering out from a
doorway.
It is not the only case of stolen artwork facing the Boston FBI
office. The agency is still working to determine who stole $500
million worth of art from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum in a 1990 theft that stands as the largest art heist in
U.S. history.
(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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