Goya Painting Stolen en Route to Guggenheim

Somehow a “professional art transporter” allowed a painting to disappear from his truck. He doesn’t know what happened to it and the FBI are looking for it. I have a feeling it is already on the wall of a private gallery in black market art trader’s house.

From the NYTimes:

A painting by Goya was stolen on its way from the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio to a major exhibition that opens on Friday at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the two institutions announced yesterday.

U.S.: The CaucusThe museums said in a statement that the 1778 painting, Children With a Cart, was stolen in the vicinity of Scranton, Pa., while in the care of a professional art transporter. Officials at both museums said the F.B.I. was investigating the case and had warned them that releasing additional information might jeopardize the inquiry.

The two museums said the painting would be virtually impossible to sell and therefore has no value on the open market. While art that belongs to major museums is easily identified as stolen, the statement seemed intended in part to discourage any attempt at a clandestine sale.

The painting was insured for only $1 million, the museums said.

So I wonder if the “professional art transporter” will ever be rehired? I say no.