Call it a picture-perfect ending.
painting stolen from Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island Decades ago, I miraculously found my way back to the museum—more than half a century later.
One morning in November 1970, a portrait of revolutionary figure Ann Totten — a prominent figure Staten Island Local — was found missing along with other items after staff noticed a window in one of the campus buildings had been forced open.
After a series of reports in news outlets such as the Washington Post and years of searches after the topic subsided, Super Thru and Good Samaritan found the coveted lost object about to rise. After the discovery, the painting suddenly appeared thousands of miles away last October.for auction in northern california.
With much help, including FBI intervention, the beautiful Colonial is now back to normal. Beyond Arthur Kill and soon sits proudly in her rightful home.
“Especially in 50 years, you wouldn’t expect stolen art to come back,” Jessica B. Phillips, CEO of Historic Richmond Town, told The Post.
A treasure trove of artifacts lifted from charming heritage village stand next to Greenbelt of Staten Island In June 1971, it was found in a Brooklyn apartment containing a portrait of Totten’s husband John. But Anne, painted in 1834 by artist John Bradley, mysteriously remained missing for many years.
Half a century after no luck solving a cold case, Phillips received an unexpected email from a wise man San Francisco Bay Area Collector Gordon Fine remembered visiting New York several years ago and seeing a portrait of Mr. Totten on display. He also recalled pointing out that there was no portrait of Anne and that the exhibition catalog had been stolen.
After all these years, Fine found a piece on his side of the country about to be sold by an auction in Michan in Alameda, adjacent to San Francisco.
“Connecting the dots is pretty wild,” says Phillips.
Phillips, who took action, reached out to both FBI Art Crime Division and auction house. Both parties were instrumental in returning the Ann Totten portrait, she said, adding that the agency hand-delivered the painting back to New York earlier this year after a lengthy investigation. We plan to proudly return the portrait to our gallery.
But where has Ann Totten been all along? San Francisco-based art restorer Gregory Gromadzki, who painted for a client in the late 1990s, has some answers.
Gromadzki told The Post that the piece was originally brought to him by a mysterious couple who wanted a fix worth about $500. He remembers them making plans to move out of the area.
“It was badly damaged. There was a big tear in the image of the woman on her face,” he said. I said, “Yes, yes, yes, I’m going to get the painting.” They didn’t come back to us. Finally they disappeared completely. “
Since then, Totten kept her heels chilling in a Gromatski warehouse until he decided to put her up for auction last fall.
At the end of the day, he was happy to give it back to me for free.
“If the museum enjoys the paintings and the public enjoys the paintings, that’s the reward,” he said.