It was over 40 years ago in 1976 that Norman Rockwell’s “Boy Asleep with Hoe” was stolen from a private home in New Jersey, sparking an international investigation that remained unsolved — until 2017.

Widely covered by both domestic and international publications, the nighttime theft of Norman Rockwell’s “Boy Asleep with Hoe” has remained one of the art world’s biggest mysteries. In 1976, thieves broke into the Cherry Hill, New Jersey, home of Robert Grant and stole the work, which is estimated to be worth between $600,000 and $1 million today. After a thorough investigation was completed with no recovery, Chubb Insurance paid the owner’s claim and acquired the painting’s title.

It was with great pleasure that Chubb Insurance announced the painting’s recovery just a few weeks ago. “Recovered art is often valued at a greater amount than a similar piece, given its unique provenance,” suggested Fran O’Brien, senior vice president of Chubb Group and division president of Chubb’s North America Personal Risk Services. “While many often assume a piece is out of harm’s way upon recovery, its newfound high-profile status and value can invite new exposures.

“Existing insurance coverage based on an outdated appraisal, for example, may not provide sufficient protection moving forward.”

The Grant family has returned the claims payment to Chubb in exchange for the painting. Chubb has stated it will donate those funds to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.

An extraordinary gathering of rarely seen masterpieces highlights the watercolor movement in the 19th and 20th centuries. Told through works exhibiting bold innovation and classical realism, this type of show is once-in-a-lifetime.

On view for just a few more weeks (May 14, 2017) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “American Watercolor in the Age of Homer and Sargent” is the fascinating story surrounding one of the most practiced and dynamic of artistic mediums as it evolved through the 19th and 20th centuries. Centered around the artistic geniuses of Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent, the exhibition showcases a staggering array of gorgeous masterpieces rarely seen by the public.

“Although widely practiced in the US before the Civil War, watercolor painting existed at the margins of the professional art world,” writes the museum. “Considered the domain of amateurs, women, and commercial artists, it drew little interest from the mainstream painters of the mid-1800s.”

The establishment of the American Watercolor Society in 1866 began to shift perspectives. According to the museum, the AWS’s annual exhibitions in New York City encouraged artists from a number of professions to reconsider the medium as a respected practice. The rest, as they say, was history.

“The American watercolor movement created stars like Homer, John La Farge, Thomas Moran, and William Trost Richards, artists who would remain dedicated to the medium for decades,” the museum continues. “Thomas Eakins, George Inness, and others rode the wave through its peak in the 1880s. Together, their work produced a taste for watercolor among younger artists and eager collectors that would endure through the turn of the century, inspiring a new crop of illustrators such as Maxfield Parrish and Jessie Willcox Smith, decorators from the circle of Louis C. Tiffany, and plein air masters Childe Hassam, Maurice Prendergast, and Sargent.”

Whether connoisseur or casual lover of art, “American Watercolor in the Age of Homer and Sargent” has something for everyone to enjoy. To learn more, visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.

A captivating display of contemporary silverpoint opens tomorrow, featuring dozens of international artists. How are artists utilizing this deep-rooted medium today? Find out here.

Marbury NYC will open its highly anticipated group exhibition “Argentum: Contemporary Silverpoint” tomorrow, April 28. On view through May 12, the exhibition calls our attention to the oft forgot, but deeply rooted, silverpoint medium. Using a stylus of pure silver, an artist can draw on paper prepared with a coarse gesso. The hardness of the silver creates extremely fine and detailed lines, not too dissimilar from the quality of line found in etchings.

Although ancient in origin, the medium flourished in Renaissance Europe until the introduction of graphite lead offered artists a more affordable and forgiving tool for drawing. However, despite the advantages offered by lead, chalks, and ink, silverpoint has remained an outright technique enjoyed by artists worldwide.

With its practice in the 21st century rare, the opportunity to absorb stellar examples of silverpoint is one worth taking, especially when the exhibition includes superb international talent. Twenty-eight artists will be featured in the upcoming show at Marbury NYC; they include Dennis Angel, James Xavier Barbour, Lisa Bartolozzi, Noah Buchanan, Lauren Caldarola, Sherry Camhy, Harvey Citron, Casey Concelmo, Jeannine Cook, Diana Corvelle, Steven DaLuz, Randall DiGiuseppe, Lori Field, Evan Kitson, Sam Knecht, Aimi Li, Shanga Manning, Tom Mazzullo, Mary Anne McCarthy, Walter Meigs (1918-1988, courtesy Harmon-Meek Gallery), Lauren Amalia Redding, Raphael Sassi, Edward Schmidt, Laura Shechter, Ben Shechter (1940-2016, courtesy Laura Shechter), Dan Thompson, Cheryl Wheat, and Joseph Ventura.

An opening reception for the show will take place on Saturday, April 29 from 6-9 p.m. To learn more, visit Marbury NYC.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.

The Salmagundi Club in New York City will soon showcase the winning artworks from the Art Renewal Center’s (ARC) 12th International Salon. Don’t miss this opportunity to view the best of representational art from around the globe.

The Salmagundi Club in New York City will be the first venue to host the Art Renewal Center’s “Live Traveling Exhibition” featuring selected works from its 12th Annual International Salon. The Salon is widely recognized as one of the best and most competitive representational art competitions; many of the world’s best artists have been selected for inclusion.

The 12th International ARC Salon boasts 1,006 finalist artworks by 640 artists representing 63 countries. Of these, the “Live Traveling Exhibition” features approximately 75 to 100 of the top entries. The Salmagundi Club will host the exhibition from May 12 through June 1 before it travels to the European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), where it will be on view from September 23 through November 27, 2017.

Awards are categorized by subject and medium, including best nude, best social commentary, best trompe l’oeil, best figure, best portrait, best still life, best imaginative realism, best landscape, and many more. Of course, all artists covet earning Best in Show honors, museum purchase awards, and other awards sponsored by magazines such as Fine Art Connoisseur and PleinAir.

Tenaya Sims’ outstanding work “Semillas” (“Seeds”) earned top distinction as Best in Show in 2016-17. Runner-up honors, titled The Bouguereau Award, were taken home by Nick Alm for his painting “The Performance.” The winner of The Da Vinci Initiative Award for the Young Aspiring Artist was awarded to 15-year-old Ray Wanda Totanes for her marvelous painting “Perception of Self.” The Oil Painters of America (OPA) also sponsors an award of $1,000, which was given to Michele Del Camp for his painting “The Argument.”

Many other awards were presented to deserving artists, and we encourage you to view the full list of recipients by visiting the ARC International Salon webpage.

To learn more about the “Live Traveling Exhibition,” visit here.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.

In this ongoing series, Fine Art Today delves into the world of portraiture, highlighting historical and contemporary examples of superb quality and skill. This week we discuss an arresting portrait by a 19th century Orientalist.

In was early in 1868 when famed Orient painter Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) returned to Paris after a 12-week journey to the Near East. Having been exposed once more to the vivid characters, colors, and textures of foreign lands, Gérôme did the only thing he could: paint.

One of the works that resulted from this particular tenure abroad is one of the most arresting and vivid portraits from the 19th century, titled “Bashi-Bazouk.” Located today in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, “Bashi-Bazouk” displays a black youth in about half length. Wearing an elaborate and colorful array of clothing, the sitter faces away from the viewer, his back turned. His rifle resting on his left shoulder, the sitter makes a slight turn toward the viewer and gazes out of the frame just over his right shoulder.

Set against a cool, olive-toned background, the subject wears a stunning salmon-colored silk jacket. He also wears a colorful and tall turban, which wraps tightly around his head with shimmering tassels dangling beneath. Gérôme’s attention to the sitter’s character and, more prominently, the array of textures, is truly mesmerizing. “Bashi-Bazouk” is a Turkish title that translates as “headless”; the word was meant to designate unpaid soldiers who fought “ferociously for plunder under Ottoman leadership,” the Met reports.

To learn more, visit the MET.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.