‘Rascal’ steals $12,500 painting from Halifax art gallery in seconds – Halifax

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The operator of a Halifax art gallery is calling the theft of a $12,500 painting  a “crime of chance.”

“The rascal came in. Observed this painting at 12:05 p.m. and just just nabbed it and walked out — basically 10 seconds,” said Ian Muncaster, co-proprietor of Zwicker’s Art Gallery on Doyle Road, in the vicinity of downtown Halifax.

On Sept. 29, employees realized that an oil portray by French Canadian artist Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté was missing from its location on the wall, near the entrance doorway.

After hunting at surveillance camera video from across the street, they realized the painting experienced been stolen about an hour earlier.

“It picked up an image of this man strolling down Brunswick Avenue and just about to cross Doyle when he type of, I guess, turned ideal and made a decision to wander down the street,” Muncaster described.

“When he arrived to our building, he seemed in the window, appeared at a pair of paintings, I guess, and place his hoodie up and went down to the door, seemed via the doorway, cupped his hand, rolled his eyes, appeared through and arrived in.”

The whole method took mere seconds, Muncaster approximated.

Muncaster suggests in the 50 a long time he’s co-owned the gallery, thefts have transpired “several situations.” He’s in no way experienced a portray returned. Once, numerous decades back, a Dutch painting resurfaced when it was brought to another gallery for appraisal, but by then the reduction had currently been lined by insurance policies.

“In most cases, I think the folks involved are petty criminals, I really do not assume they’re, you know, sophisticated art intruders or anything like that. But the theft of art, of study course, is enormous internationally,” he mentioned.

In this case, the Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté painting, which dates to the late 1800s to early 1900s, was valued at $12,500, and experienced a tag with the rate shown beside it. The smaller 8” X 10” portray is framed in a gold gilded body

“He was a incredibly effectively known painter,” claimed Muncaster.

“He educated in Europe and this was a scene of a farm in Brittany.”

Halifax Regional Police have produced a photo of the suspect, explained as a person with dim hair and a receding hairline. He was carrying a blue observe fit, black and white sneakers and a black experience mask.

Any person with facts about the incident or online video from the spot is requested to connect with 902-490-5020 or Criminal offense Stoppers.

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