Owner of Stolen Art Lied to FBI of Renoir Painting’s Origins

A Renoir painting disappeared from a Baltimore Museum in 1951. It eventually wound up in the hands of Marcia Fuqua of Virginia, who claimed that she bought the painting for 7 bucks at a flea market. When the FBI started investigating the theft and the re-emergence of the painting, Fuqua wrote the FBI claiming that she had no training in fine arts. Which was a lie, and something that could land her in very hot water.

There is a great write up of this story at the WaPo here. No one is claiming that Fuqua’s Mom stole the painting, but Fuqua’s lies to the FBI is enough to land her in jail.