Last fall, I was looking for a way to paper the art world with giant versions of the awesome PDF wanted posters the LAPD Art Theft Detail had created for Richard Weisman's stolen Warhol Athletes Series paintings.
So I created a tongue-in-cheek Kickstarter project to print up a thousand posters. But satirical altruism for cagey Bel Air collectors wasn't a big draw, and then mysteriously, Weisman dropped his insurance claim, so his company withdrew the $1 million reward offer. [Which you'd think would make the posters all that more collectible. But anyway. I have my proof, I'm content.]
Weisman, who commissioned the series in 1977, said he was not interested in subjecting his family to the invasive scrutiny of the insurance investigation. And it's not like he's really missing the works: he and his family still owns several sets of the paintings, and he has donated several more to museums and sports halls of fame.
Bring it up to the present, and the LAPD still lists the works as stolen. But a couple of weeks ago, the NYT's Virginia Heffernan wrote about a couple of art theft blogs, including Art Hostage.
Had we only known. Barely a week after the heist, Art Hostage chief Turbo Paul had the case all sewn up: "Not Stolen, A Domestic Kidnapping !!!!!"
Which, when combined with Weisman's subsequent actions, makes it sound like he knows who, if not exactly where, and doesn't want to pull that thread.
Now if only there were a break in the Pebble Beach "Pollock" case....
