Stolen Pissarro Returns to France

The scene of impressionist Camille Pissarro’s “Le Marché de Poissons” was not the painting’s only fishy feature when a New York federal jury ruled it was stolen from a French museum over three decades ago on Wednesday. Valued at about $80,000, the Pissarro was reportedly taken from the Faure Museum in Aix-les-Bains, France in 1981 by Emile Guelton, who then had a San Antonio art dealer sell it on consignment in 1985 for $8,500. When the new owner in San Antonio, Texas sent it to Sotheby’s in 2003, the Art Loss Register discovered the stolen work in the catalogue and notified French authorities, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will hold onto the work until it’s rightfully returned to the Faure Museum in France in March or April, when it will be celebrated with a rightful Parisian ceremony.