A federal judge on Friday awarded ownership of a disputed Renoir painting to a Baltimore museum, citing “overwhelming evidence” that the painting had been stolen from the museum.
The judge’s decision rejected the claims of Marcia “Martha” Fuqua, who maintained that she bought the painting at a flea market for $7, even as others, including her own brother, disputed her story.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema did not pass judgment of the truthfulness of Fuqua’s story. The judge said only that because the museum had shown the painting was stolen, it didn’t matter how Fuqua acquired it — she could not legally gain possession of stolen property even if she acted in good faith.
The napkin-sized painting made news in 2012 when an auction company announced plans to sell it. The then-anonymous owner said she had acquired it at a flea market in 2009 and did not know the painting was a Renoir when she bought it.
The auction company had expected to fetch at least $75,000, but the auction was canceled when the Baltimore Museum of Art came forward with long-forgotten records showing the painting had been stolen in 1951.
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