West Chester Woman’s Family Gets Back Rockwell Painting Stolen 40 Years Ago

By

A famous Norman Rockwell painting stolen from a home 40 years ago was finally recovered and returned to a West Chester woman’s family. Image via David Swanson, Philadelphia Inquirer.

After 40 years of waiting, a West Chester woman who grew up admiring her parents’ “Lazybones” painting by Norman Rockwell was finally reunited with the $1 million masterpiece last week.

The artwork was stolen in 1976, and its search reinvigorated in 2006, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report by Kevin Riordan. It was finally discovered by the FBI in Philadelphia last year in the kitchen of an antique shop owner who had bought it 40 years earlier, unaware it had been stolen and under the impression it was a damaged copy.

“My father really loved that painting, and always thought it would be recovered,” said Susan Murta of West Chester.

Murta is one of the children of Robert and Teresa Grant, who had the Rockwell painting hanging in their foyer in Cherry Hill, N.J., for 20 years before its theft.

“We waited over 40 years to be reunited with this very special painting,” said daughter-in-law Marybeth Grant.

Read more about the search for the stolen Rockwell painting and its momentous reunion in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.

Connect With Your Community

Subscribe to stay informed!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Advertisement
Creative Capital logo