Provided for students to read along and use to reference during their group advocacy discussions.

1. Art Ownership Dilemma:
A Real Life Art Mystery for Teaching Character in the Art Curriculum
Ethical Discussion Reading Material
Trace the journey of the Pierre-Auguste Renoir masterpiece mystery “On the Shore of Seine”
disappearance and resurface 61 years later
It's been a long journey home for one small painting. After disappearing in the night over 60
years ago, the whereabouts of a Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting has been a mystery for the
Baltimore Museum of Art.
The napkin-sized painting, entitled On the Shore of the Seine, has recently made headlines again
after surfacing at a flea market, where a Virginia woman claims she bought it for $7. The
Baltimore Museum of Art claims the painting was stolen in 1951 and opened a court case to win
it back. As evidence, the museum provided a 60-year-old police report, old museum catalogues
and a receipt showing that a patron bequeathed the painting to the museum.
In her own court filings, Martha Fuqua contested the museum's claim, saying she purchased the
painting at a flea market in 2009. The legal dispute began last September when the painting was
expected to command at least $75,000 in a scheduled auction at the Alexandria, Va.-based
Potomack Company auction house.
Information to be read when showing the news article clipping
Just before the auction, a reporter for The Washington Post uncovered documents from the
Baltimore Museum of Art showing that the painting was stolen from the museum in 1951.
The auction was canceled as a result and the FBI seized the painting and opened an investigation
into the theft. Fuqua's brother and former family friends have told The Washington Post the
painting had been at Fuqua's mother's home prior to when she claims to have purchased it at a
West Virginia flea market. When Fuqua's find was announced, media coverage said the records
showed the painting was last purchased by an international lawyer in Paris in 1926.
The documents discovered by the Washington Post reporter indicated that the painting belonged
to Saidie May, a well-known art collector and major benefactor to the (BMA) Baltimore
Museum of Art. The artwork was reported stolen on Nov. 17, 1951, according to the documents,
shortly after May's death.
ABC News. (Fri, Mar 28, 2014 11:49 AM EDT). Stolen Renoir Returned to Baltimore Museum60 Years Later [ Web
log post]. Retrieved from ABCnews blog on Saturday, April26, 2014 http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/stolen-
renoir-returned-baltimore-museum-60-years-later-154920494--abc-news-topstories.html