Andy Warhol's "Athlete Series" Stolen: $1-Million Reward Offered
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This image provided by the Los Angeles Police Department on Friday Sept. 11, 2009 shows a reward poster issued for stolen works of art by Andy Warhol in Los Angeles. Police said a multi-million-dollar collection of Andy Warhol paintings has been stolen from a private home in West Los Angeles. The LAPD said Friday that 10 paintings, each 40 inches square, were taken from the home of businessman Richard Weisman. (AP Photo/LAPD)
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Sep 12, 7:02 AM (ET)
By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A unique series of Andy Warhol pieces - portraits of Muhammad Ali, Jack Nicklaus, Pele, Dorothy Hamill and other athletic superstars - has been stolen from a collector's home.
Los Angeles police said Friday the collection of 10 silk screen paintings of famous athletes of the 1970s was taken from the home of businessman Richard Weisman sometime between Sept. 2 and 3.
Weisman commissioned the iconic pop artist in 1977 to create the portraits, said Brenda Klippel, the director of Martin Lawrence Galleries in Los Angeles, which has a large collection of Warhols.
A commissioned portrait of Weisman was also stolen, said Detective Mark Sommer of the Los Angeles Police Department's art theft detail. A $1 million reward was offered for information leading to the return of the paintings.
"This was a very clean crime," Sommer said. "(The home) wasn't ransacked."
Art recovery expert Robert Wittman, a former investigator for the FBI's national art crime team, says most rewards are offered for about 10 percent of a stolen collection's value.
"A million dollars is nothing to sneeze at. That's a hefty reward for a collection," Wittman said.
The art was on display in Weisman's dining room and his house was locked up. It wasn't clear exactly when the paintings were taken or how the thieves got into the home.
The theft was discovered by the family's longtime nanny who arrived at the home to find the large prints missing from the walls. She immediately went to a neighbor's to call police, Sommer said.
It wasn't known exactly how much the prints were worth.
"The theft of Warhol's 'Athlete Series' represents a profoundly personal loss to me and my family," Weisman said in a statement.
Weisman, who published a book about his art collection called, "From Picasso to Pop," declined to comment further. The other valuable art in his home was untouched.
A neighbor saw a maroon van in the driveway of Weisman's home around the time of the robbery, Sommer said.
Warhol became internationally famous in the 1960s for his iconic image of a Campbell's soup can, his avant-garde films and his parties that mixed celebrities, artists, intellectuals and other beautiful people at his New York studio called "The Factory."
"Warhol was always a portraitist and fascinated with anyone of fame or fortune, anyone in the public eye," Klippel said. "If Weisman was in his circle and had the money, he could commission what he wanted."
Wittman said about 95 percent of stolen art, especially well known pieces, are recovered.
"The real art in an art theft is not the stealing but the selling," he said. "People know what they are. You can't sell it to the industry, it's not going back to the market and you also can't sell it at auction."
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AP writer Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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Folks Who Bite Get Bitten. Folks Who Don't Bite Get Eaten.
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Comments
Better not find this GAI authenticated on ebay!
the paintings.
Wow, I'd split someones pipes for that OJ.
<< <i>Wow, I'd split someones pipes for that OJ.
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Over past years, there has been much speculation
as to the potential auction value of the "posters" in
a robust economy.
Such speculation has more than touched on the notion
that the parts are likely worth substantially more than
the whole.
As the theft investigation moves forward, it will likely
be revealed that the items are insured for something
under $50-million. But, it is VERY likely that - under ideal
market/economic conditions - the group could bring in
excess of $80-million; perhaps MUCH in excess.
As singles, it is hard to know which portrait would be
the most pricey.
I would expect that the Ali is the most desirable piece,
and that the OJ is still in the top three.
Due to the international fame of the subjects in the group,
the market for the items is almost unlimited. The only
value-retarding factor is that they are now "stolen goods."
(If they are not already in Japan or China, I will be surprised.
Though, it is pretty common for affected insurance companies
to quietly repurchase such items.)
If the group is now broken up - which it may well be - a
nice legend will be constructed in the out years. Any future
efforts to reunite the pieces will ZOOM the prices. And, in
a fun and ironic twist, the Richard Weisman portrait could
become the last acquired AND most expensive piece. No
one could say that they had reassembled the "Weisman
Commission," without the Weisman!
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Warhol Work Sets Record at NYC Auction
The Associated Press
Thursday, May 17, 2007; 8:11 AM
NEW YORK -- An Andy Warhol painting sold for more than $71 million, more than quadrupling the previous top auction price for the pop artist's work, an auction house (Christie's) said.
Warhol's painting "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)," went for $71.7 million to an anonymous buyer. The previous auction record for a Warhol work was $17.4 million, set when "Mao" sold at Christie's in November 2006, the auction house said.
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