A sting operation in Florida ends a six-year case that started with a break-in at a private home in St Louis, Missouri
A dramatic six-year-long case of a stolen art work is nearing its end
following an FBI sting operation. The FBI has announced that a Juan Gris
painting, stolen in 2004, has been recovered in Florida and a suspect,
Robert Dibartolo, has been charged with transportation of the stolen art
work.
According to the criminal complaint and
affidavit cited by the FBI and the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of Florida, the painting was taken by unknown thieves
who forcibly broke into the home of Clifton Hyatt in Saint Louis,
Missouri in 2004. The Juan Gris untitled canvas, a 1926 cubist
impressionist still-life valued at around $1 million, was hanging in the
front entryway of the house.
The FBI started
investigating the case and then finally in November 2009, Dibartolo
spoke to an undercover agent about selling the painting, according to
court documents. Just last week, on 11 March, the defendant met with the
agent at a hotel in Jupiter, Florida and produced the Gris, wrapped in a
blue packing blanket. After the undercover agent determined that the
painting was authentic, Dibartolo was taken into custody, and the
painting was later identified by its original owner.
The Palm Beach Post reports that the owner,
Clifton Hyatt, bought the painting in the mid-1960s from a “striking”
Russian woman he met and had a relationship with in Spain, where he was
enlisted with the US Air Force. During visits to her home, Hyatt admired
the abstract painting but didn’t know anything about the artist. When
he left the country, she agreed to sell him the work at what would turn
out to be a generous discount. "I didn't know Juan Gris from Juan Pepe,"
he told the Post. "I just rolled the damned thing up and mailed
it" to St Louis. A US museum later authenticated the painting as an
authentic work by Spanish cubist Juan Gris, a contemporary of Picasso
and Braque.
The FBI will retain the painting
until the case has been resolved. Hyatt told the Post he then
plans to keep the painting in his home, "along with two Rottweilers and a
shotgun".
The case is being prosecuted by
Assistant US Attorney Lothrop Morris and if convicted, Dibartolo faces
up to 10 years in prison.
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