As we follow the story of the stolen Renior from the Baltimore Museum of Art, the case has finally come to a close. When Marcia “Martha” Fuqua, of Lovettsville, Va., claimed to have bought a Renoir (unknown at the time) for $7 at a flea market in 2009, the art world dialed in on her story; questioning how did a 19th century masters work end up there in the first place? Well, according to the court ruling made against Fuqua by the Baltimore Museum of Art, it didn’t! Where did it come from? Right off the Museum walls over 60 years ago in an art heist!
When Fuqua contacted an auction house to sell the work word spread quickly to the Baltimore Museum of Art whose small Renoir went missing in 1951. “Overwhelming evidence” proved that the work belonged to the museum and Fuqua’s own brother turned his back on her as he called her a “Liar” as he had seen the work in his family home numerous times before she claimed to have bought it.
According to the Associated Press, Fuqua’s mother, Marcia Fouquet was an artist who reproduced paintings from Renoir and other masters and had “extensive links to the Baltimore art community in the 1950’s.
Upon return, the museum will host an unveiling of the work by the end of March.
Famous Renoir Painting ‘Found’ At Thrift Store Returns To Baltimore Museum.