NEW YORK—A Norman Rockwell painting has gone missing from a storage facility in Queens, prompting an investigation.
The 1939 painting recently sold at auction for $1 million. Police say it disappeared last month from Welpak Art Moving and Storage in Ridgewood, Queens.
The work, titled “Sport,” depicts a fisherman wearing a yellow rain jacket and smoking a pipe.
The oil painting was sold from a private collector in Birmingham, Ala., at a Sotheby’s auction in New York on May 22. Police didn’t identify the owner.
Welpak says on its website that it offers high-quality security and a variety of fine art shipping and climate-controlled services.
The New York Police Department is asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers (800) 577-TIPS.
Mark Fishstein of the NYPD told Bloomberg Businessweek that it could take a while to track down the painting.
“It can take anywhere from days to never,” says Fishstein
At least one stolen Rockwell painting has been missing for over 30 years. Meanwhile, the Art Loss Register has over 40 stolen Rockwells in the register database--but it also has over 1,000 missing Picassos.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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