[MSN] Another Omaha church is reporting the theft of a valued piece of art.

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

April 11, 2007
Art stolen from another Omaha church


Another Omaha church is reporting the theft of a valued piece of art.

The Rev. Will Howell of First Covenant Church at 201 N. 90th St. said
Wednesday that police have been contacted about a missing charcoal sketch of
"The Head of Christ" by artist Warner Sallman. It had been a prized
possession of the church since the artist donated it during a visit.

"I can't imagine someone walking around with a stolen picture of the head of
Jesus Christ," Howell said. "It would have to be someone with pretty much no
morals."

The theft may have occurred as early as last October, Howell said. The
picture had been hanging in the back of the church.

The picture's value is hard to assess, he said, although the church valued
it at $50,000 in the report to the Omaha Police Department.

Sallman first drew "The Head of Christ" in 1924 for the cover of the
denominational magazine of the Evangelical Covenant Church while he was
living in Chicago.

He did several variations of the painting over the years, and the first oil
version was done in 1935 for the 50th anniversary celebration of the
Evangelical Covenant Church.

Eileen Brown, of Brown's Art Consultants and Appraisals in Omaha, said
Sallman often visited churches in the Midwest and re-created the famous
picture while talking about his faith.

Brown said her father, a pastor in Muscatine, Iowa, told her about Sallman's
visit to their Nazarene Church during the 1930s.

"(Sallman) gave away all of his work," Brown said. "There's no record of any
of his works having been sold commercially because he gave them all away.

"When you come right down to it, the picture is priceless because you can't
get another one."

Sallman died in 1968.

First Covenant Church becomes the sixth Omaha church to report an art theft
since last summer.

Paintings from All Saints Episcopal Church, Immaculate Conception Church,
St. Thomas More Church and St. Joseph Church also have been taken, and none
has been recovered.

Most recently, a 300-year-old painting, "The Virgin Immaculta" valued at
$100,000, was stolen from St. Cecilia Cathedral.

Officer David Spizzirri, a spokesman for the Police Department, said law
enforcement agencies specializing in art thefts are assisting in
investigating whether the recent thefts are connected.

"The FBI, the New York Police Department and Interpol have joined the Omaha
department's major crimes unit in the investigation," Spizzirri said.

Investigators have notified eBay and local art dealers of the thefts.

Anyone with information about any of the thefts is asked to call
CrimeStoppers at 444-STOP.

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