After an alert store manager noticed that it was a signed original, the painting was subsequently auctioned for $40,600 (US) at Sotheby's.
![Incredible Landscape painting by Edouard Leon Cortes Incredible Landscape painting by Edouard Leon Cortes](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IAl59B0FjxY/TNUDMx05RVI/AAAAAAAAAc8/X5SKOz8zMBM/s1600/cortes5blog.jpg)
In 2008, a lost Cortès painting of a Paris street scene was discovered amongst donated items at a Goodwill Industries thrift store in Easton, Maryland. The recovered paintings were stolen in 1988 during a burglary at the Simic Gallery in Carmel, California. On November 30, 2000, four paintings by Cortès were recovered in Kalispell, Montana, following an eight-month investigation conducted by the FBI's San Francisco Division. In his last year of life he was awarded the prestigious Prix Antoine-Quinson from the Salon de Vincennes. His works were first exhibited in North America in 1945 and he subsequently achieved even greater success. Once, in responding to a journalist who asked if he was a student of Luigi Loir, he replied in pun: "Non, seul élève de moi-même." ("No, a student of myself only.") His first exhibition in 1901 brought him immediate recognition. He died on November 28, 1969, in Lagny, and has a street named in his honor.Īt the age of 17, Edouard began his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His wife had died in 1918 and he soon married his sister-in-law Lucienne Joyeuse.Ĭortès lived a simple life amid a close circle of friends. Later in life his convictions led him to refuse the Légion d'Honneur from the French Government. After recovery he was the reassigned to use his artistic talent to sketch enemy positions. As a contact agent Cortès was wounded by a bayonet, evacuated to a military hospital, and awarded the Croix de Guerre. In 1914 Cortès married Fernande Joyeuse, with whom he had a daughter in 1916.Īlthough Cortès was a pacifist, when war came close to his native village he was compelled to enlist in a French Infantry Regiment at the age of 32. His father, Antonio Cortés, had been a painter for the Spanish Royal Court. He is known as "Le Poete Parisien de la Peinture" or "the Parisian Poet of Painting" because of his diverse Paris cityscapes in a variety of weather and night settings.Ĭortes was born on August 6, 1882, in Lagny-sur-Marne, about twenty miles east of Paris. Read more about this issue in ATG's legal column.Edouard Léon Cortès (1882–1969) was a French post-impressionist artist of French and Spanish ancestry. In contrast, in the UK the Limitation Act 1980 means that after six years from the date of the ‘good faith purchase’ the original owner may not have a claim. Under US law, even the defence of a ‘good faith purchase’ (ie the buyer did not know the item was stolen in the past) may not be enough. “We have been recovering one or two pictures per year from this 60-year-old theft and we’re never going to give up until every last one is returned.” Marinello added: “Anyone buying or selling a painting by Edouard-Leon Cortés or Antoine Blanchard is advised to check with the Arnot Gallery for proper authentication. “I cannot stress enough the importance of performing due diligence and authentication checks which would have uncovered this stolen painting decades earlier.” While in this instance, we were able to convince many of the parties to reimburse the other, eventually there will be those who are out of luck.
![Incredible Landscape painting by Edouard Leon Cortes Incredible Landscape painting by Edouard Leon Cortes](https://a.1stdibscdn.com/edouard-leon-cortes-paintings-larc-de-triomphe-winter-for-sale/a_186/1625151465355/31_1410_1_master.jpg)
Marinello said: “We are very grateful to Bradley Carnes, Capes Dunn and their vendor for releasing this stolen painting unconditionally to the Arnot Gallery. The painting had been consigned to Capes Dunn in 2022 from an estate in Cheshire who confirmed that it was acquired from a London gallery. Then earlier this year it emerged that Cortès’ Flower Market Madeleine was offered for sale by Lancashire art dealer Carnes Fine Art.Īccording to Art Recovery International, Carnes purchased the artwork in November 2022 at Capes Dunn auction house. A subsequent court case led to the imprisonment of the offender but many of the artworks were not recovered. The picture was one of up to 3000 paintings stolen from the Herbert Arnot Gallery in New York City over a 12-year period in the 1950s and 1960s by an employee.
![Incredible Landscape painting by Edouard Leon Cortes Incredible Landscape painting by Edouard Leon Cortes](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d9/94/de/d994dec7cc0ab4a57cd225ba60a03336.jpg)
Enjoy unlimited access: just £1 for 12 weeks Subscribe nowįlower Market Madeleine by Cortés has been recovered with the help of Christopher Marinello, lawyer and founder of Art Recovery International.