Lost or Stolen Artwork, Will it Turn up?
The Jury is Still out..... Shipping Art is Hard Enough Without Complications...A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all, We'll Talk Next in January
”Crack of Light Breaking through a Tree Line” pastel
My 32x40 inch pastel painting was in an exhibition this fall in the Haggin Museum in Stockton California as part of the “99 Voices” International show by the Pastel Society of the West Coast. It then appeared in the PSWC beautifully printed exhibition catalog and online. All quit an honor and I am lucky to have my artwork included
Then it was stolen.
Not like the Mona Lisa, Scream, or other art stolen from a museum wall, but instead in transit. One might think, maybe it is just lost, and that could be true. Hopefully that turns out to be the case but unlike a diamond ring in a tiny box that might fall under a conveyor belt or behind a sorting table, this painting isn’t small….by now someone at the shipping warehouse would have been shoving it out of the way or tripping over this thing…..
Framed in a wide large gold leaf molding the painting overall measured about 40x48 inches and when packed, the shipping box is 4x5 feet. It’s not likely it got kicked to the side unnoticed. The electronic scan tracking shows it shipped out of California, made it to Utah and from there was checked into a facility in Kentucky. That’s where things get a bit blurry… and the trail grows cold because it was scanned in as “scheduled for delivery”. The transit company is investigating but it has been missing for nearly two month and with Christmas, the number of claims has slowed the search, I’m told. Maybe the label just got torn off and due to the backlog of claims, no one has been able to match up the photographic images I submitted in the claim to packages sitting waiting for such claims. Anyone ever work at a warehouse like UPS, Fed-X or HDL and know how these things work?
This thing has been exhibited widely, and almost sold several times. I had earmarked it to be retired because after an artwork is 3-4 years old, it is not eligible to be entered into most national and international competitions. This was its farewell tour….turns out, a farewell in more ways than one.
Have any of you had a painting lost in transit? Did it eventually turn up?
I can’t imagine someone stealing one of my paintings. My mind has been going through all sorts of scenarios. The expediting company would know it was art, the shipping info and insurance states that it is an artwork, as well as the art was picked up from an art handler. But if intentionally stolen, someone would not know if the art was worth a few thousand or hundred thousand dollars. If it was stolen, then it was on total speculation that something that big might be worth something.
We know it wasn’t delivered to a wrong address— it never was scanned as delivered, and they take pictures of packages if they are left at a doorstep, but this package required a signature. So, unless a driver ignored all the rules and safeguards, it is unlikely it was mis-delivered. And if it was…..after 2 months, whomever received it hasn’t come forward with it to say they didn’t order it — so that would still be theft.
Another scenario that went through my mind— besides a missing label waiting to be matched to my photograph — is that a worker who has a spotty work record might have damaged the package — maybe by running a forklift fork through it by accident, and fearing dismissal, hid all the parts and pieces to protect his or her employment.
Anyone with experience with this?
Will a shipping company ever say the package is likely stolen?
Will they just say it is lost and not use the word “stolen” in any response to me?
It is all kind of odd to me. The value of the painting, however, DOES reach the threshold to submit it to the FBI’s data base of stolen art. But would the police and the FBI accept a “Stolen Art” report if the expediting service refuses to say the word “stolen”????
Submitting it to the database is potentially important. Amazingly there are a lot of stolen artworks, hence the FBI starting the database 4-5 years ago and dedicating agents to nothing but art theft. If it was stolen, reporting it at least lets art auction houses check the FBI and Interpol stolen art databases so they know they are not selling a stolen artwork. These databases protect collectors, the auction houses, and their reputations. But do all art and antique auction houses do this, I doubt it? I bet it is only the biggies like Christies and this work will never end up at their doorstep.
So many unanswered questions. I have to admit….it would be kinda cool to be able to say I have art in the FBI stolen art database……I suppose that kind of statement makes me a suspect in their eyes…..so, I never said that!
I apparently insured the trip to California but the return label didn't automatically include insurance. They gave me shipping costs plus the minimum $100 liability.....that came out to just under $500 which is more than their small print says they are liable for. I am going to go to the State Police and file a stolen report and ask them to then list it on the National Stolen Art File ...it's then up to the FBI if they will add it to the list.
One can only hope you will receive a fair monetary value through insurance. Nothing can replace the original, but you are still you, the art is still in you and you can live to draw another day. And I certainly don't mean to sound flippant. Someone might be getting one heck of a piece of art for Christmas. I am sorry for your aggravating loss.