The FBI announced Friday that Acadamy Award-winning film director Steven Spielberg was in possession of a stolen Norman Rockwell painting. The “Russian Schoolroom,” estimated at a value of $700,000 was stolen from a gallery in Clayton, Mo., in 1973. The painting depicts a classroom with a bust of communist leader Vladimir Lenin. The oil-on-canvas painting, also referred to as The Russian Classroom or Russian Schoolchildren, measured 16″ X 37″, and was presented in a 2′ x 4′ frame of dull gold-white molding.
In July 2004, the FBI’s newly formed Art Crime Team initiated an investigation to locate and recover the stolen artwork. Spielberg purchased the painting legitimately in 1989, but only recently discovered it was stolen. His staff immediately allerted the FBI. The FBI reported that the filmmaker will maintain ownership until “disposition can be determined.”
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