Norman Rockwell Painting Worth $1 Million Stolen From Storage Unit In New York City

$1 Million Norman Rockwell Painting Stolen From NYC Storage Unit

A $1 million Norman Rockwell painting has been stolen from a storage unit in New York City, police reported this week.

According to CBS News, the theft took place before September 13, 2013, when authorities at the Welpak Art Moving and Storage facility in Queens discovered that Rockwell's "Sport" painting was missing. The painting features a raincoat-clad man in a row boat smoking a pipe and holding a fishing rod. Like many of Rockwell's iconic works, the image previously appeared on the cover of a Saturday Evening Post Cover in 1939.

norman rockwell sport
Norman Rockwell, "Sport," 1939, 22 in x 28 in.

"Sport" was only recently on the bidding block this year, sold to an unnamed buyer at Sotheby's for $1,085,000. Police have not identified the current owner of the painting or explained why the large work was hiding in a storage space, but the NYPD is asking for the public's help in determining the whereabouts of the pricey piece, prompting those with information to contact Crimestoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

The New York Times spoke with Jonathan Stuart, the son of Rockwell’s longtime art director at The Saturday Evening Post, about the theft. “How are they going to sell something that was just publicly sold for $1 million?” he stated. “If someone came to me with that, I’d call Sotheby’s or the police.”

In other Rockwell news, three of the artist's other famous works are headed to Sotheby's this December, with the familiar "Saying Grace" painting poised to fetch up to $20 million.

Before You Go

Norman Rockwell Had His Breakthrough At Age 19

10 Things You Didn't Know About Norman Rockwell

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