Travis Simpkins: "The Rockwell Heist" by Bruce Rubenstein

"The Rockwell Heist" by Bruce Rubenstein

Borealis, 2013

Review by Travis Simpkins

On the cold winter night of February 16, 1978, seven works by Norman Rockwell and a fake Renoir were stolen from Elayne Galleries in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Twenty-two years later, the stolen Rockwell paintings were recovered half-a-world and a climate-shift away at a remote villa in rural Brazil. The Rockwell masterworks were Date/Cowgirl & Cowboy, The Spirit of 1976, No Swimming, Summer, Winter and She's My Baby. The phony Renoir (which seemingly was the main target of the heist) has never resurfaced. In his 2013 book, The Rockwell Heist, Bruce Rubenstein offers a concise look at the journey taken by the paintings after the theft: from the midwest, through Europe, to South America and back again. At just 178 pages, the book sticks to the known facts without added conjecture or flair (with the exception of a tangent about Martin Cahill and his 1986 Russborough House heist).

During the initial 1978 investigation of the theft at Elayne Galleries, a few possible scenarios and schemes were explored by the FBI… with the most likely case involving the owner of the fake Renoir (in a roundabout way). Buddy Verson had purchased his "Renoir" for $15,000 in a transaction with a crooked conman in Miami. When Verson loaned his new acquisition to Elayne Galleries, it is theorized that the crooks (with the aid of midwestern hired thieves) plotted to steal the fake Renoir back, and in the process, also took advantage of the opportunity to take the paintings from the Norman Rockwell exhibit. The paintings vanished. Gallery owner Elayne Lindberg and her daughter, Bonnie, stayed on the case after the authorities had given up. They received many tips over the years, but made little headway. The stolen works traveled to Miami, then turned up in Portugal by the late 1980's. Because the demand for Rockwell's work is low in Europe, the works were smuggled back to the Americas, and were caught by Brazilian customs in the 1990's. Through some legal finagling, the Rockwell paintings were legally purchased by a Brazilian art dealer and schoolmaster named Jose Carniero. Poor interrelations and lack of extradition between the United States and Brazil would prove troublesome.

Both Bonnie Lindberg and FBI Art Crime Team founder Robert K. Wittman were instrumental in retrieving the stolen Rockwell masterpieces in 2000 and 2001, and both are heroes in the tale. Jose Carniero wanted to do "the right thing" for the right price, and initiated contact with Lindberg in an effort to sell the paintings back to her. The Cowgirl/Cowboy paintings were recovered in this initial compromise. Robert K. Wittman utilized the heightened sense of patriotism following the 9-11 attacks to gain force in recovering the remaining quintessentially-American Rockwell works (The Spirit of 1976 includes a likeness of the twin towers of the World Trade Center). Diplomacy, loopholes and negotiations proved fruitful in this circuitous journey that enjoyed a mostly happy ending. As previously mentioned, this book is short and tends to focus on the Lindberg's side of the story. For added information about the valiant efforts of Bob Wittman regarding this case, read his thoroughly entertaining memoir, Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures.