Family reunited with John Opie painting stolen by New Jersey mob 54 years ago
Source: the Guardian
Police believe ‘priceless’ artwork The Schoolmistress was stolen by three men working for a then local city council member
By Gloria Oladipo Tue 30 Jan 2024 09.53 EST
A priceless 18th-century painting has been reunited with the original owner’s son more than a half century after New Jersey mobsters stole it.
Dr Francis Wood inherited the painter John Opie’s The Schoolmistress but had to wait 54 years to receive it after it was stolen.
A Utah judge ruled recently that the painting belonged to Wood after the art work was discovered in the state by an accounting firm during the liquidation of an estate, NBC News reported.
FBI agents in Salt Lake City and the Metropolitan police in London each had a hand getting the painting back to Wood after a two-year investigation.
Dr Francis Wood, 96, with John Opie’s The Schoolmistress, stolen from his parents’ house in 1969. Photograph: AP
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/30/john-opie-painting-new-jersey-mob-theft
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