A Baroque landscape painting stolen by a US soldier has been returned to a German museum. Claire Savage/AP
- A stolen painting has been returned to Germany after being missing for over 78 years.
- The FBI seized the painting after a company enlisted its help to obtain it from a Chicago resident.
- Back in 2011, someone tried to sell the painting on the Chicago art market.
A stolen painting from Germany made an unusual journey home Thursday after being missing for more than 78 years, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI returned the painting to a representative of the Alte Pinakothek at the German consulate in Chicago. The work of art was first reported stolen from the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich in 1945.
It turned out to be the “landscape of Italian character” – a painting by Vienna-born artist Johann Franz Nepomuk Lauterer, according to the FBI. The painting was created in the early 18th century and is now over 300 years old, according to The Art Newspaper. The value of the work of art has not been publicly assessed by experts.
Art Recovery International, based in Italy, helped recover the item after a Chicago resident told the company that his uncle owned a stolen painting, company founder Christopher Marinello told Insider. The resident’s uncle, now deceased, received the artwork after serving in World War II, Marinello said.
The person, who was not identified in reports, tipped off Marinello in December 2022, according to The Art Newspaper. Marinello confirmed to Insider that the person demanded a “finder’s fee” from his company in exchange for the artwork.
“We do not pay money to owners of stolen artwork to do the right thing, especially given the circumstances in which this artwork came into the family’s possession,” Marinello said. He then enlisted the FBI’s Art Crimes Team to help him recover the painting.
Marinello told Insider that a person – who he believes is the same person who tipped him off about the stolen painting – had tried to sell it at the Chicago art market back in 2011.
“When he was told it was stolen property, he backed off and disappeared,” Marinello said. Insider could not independently verify this information.
The Alte Pinakothek and researchers from Art Recovery International confirmed in 2022 that the painting was Lauterer’s original artwork, Marinello told Insider. It will be exhibited in the Alte Pinakothek together with another painting by Lauterer with similar motifs of the Italian landscape, according to a press release from the museum.
It’s not the first time a stolen painting of U.S. soldiers who served in World War II has been recovered. In 2015, the FBI recovered three works of art stolen by U.S. soldiers from a German museum in Dessau, a city in central Germany.
The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular office hours.
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