[MSN] Australia. THE Art Gallery of NSW has ignored police advice to offer a reward which could secure the return of a $1.4 million painting stolen in an embarrassing theft.

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Art gallery refuses to offer reward for stolen painting


August 21, 2007 12:00am

THE Art Gallery of NSW has ignored police advice to offer a reward which
could secure the return of a $1.4 million painting stolen in an embarrassing
theft.

An art theft expert said a reward could have "thrown a line of communication
to the thieves" but the gallery refused to follow advice from The Rocks
police and put up the money.

The 17th century painting by Dutch master Frans van Mieris was unscrewed
from a wall while 6000 art lovers passed through the gallery on June 9.

Rewards have been used around the world for decades to entice thieves to
return artwork, with some caught as they negotiated a ransom, criminologist
Ken Polk said yesterday.

In one of the most high-profile cases, arrests were made within two days of
a reward being offered for the return of the Edvard Munch masterpiece The
Scream in Norway two years ago.

It is understood police first approached the gallery about a month ago after
finding few leads in their hunt to find van Mieris' A Cavalier.

Any reward could have been as high as $150,000, with 10 per cent of the
value of the work considered appropriate, experts said yesterday.

Interpol, the FBI and Scotland Yard have been alerted to the theft but in
the only Australian development, a man aged in his mid-40s was caught by
police placing a fake picture of the painting on eBay.

"I'm surprised they're not engaging in negotiations," Professor Polk from
Melbourne University said yesterday.

"In the past there have been a number of cases where ransoms have been
negotiated either to catch the thief or have the artwork returned. The
(gallery) may know something in this circumstance and have decided a reward
is not appropriate."

A spokeswoman for the gallery refused to confirm how much the police advised
should be offered as a reward.

"After consultation with other organisations, the gallery is not going ahead
with a reward at this stage," the spokeswoman said.

The gallery's refusal to follow police advice has come after it emerged that
the gallery waited a day after detecting the theft before notifying police.

It was another two days before the public and gallery visitors were alerted
to the theft and asked to come forward if they saw anything suspicious.

The Daily Telegraph reported earlier this month that a delicate wood carving
of a magnolia by Tokyo-based artist Yoshihiro Suda was plucked from a
display wall at the doorway of the gallery's Asian exhibit in 2004.

The sculpture - worth $35,000 - has never been found.

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