Artist’s works popular with thieves

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- In the early 1970s, when sculptor Frederick Hart lived

in a garage with nothing to keep him warm but two German shepherds, it

may have been hard to imagine that his work would become a prime target

for art thieves three decades later.

The Lahaina Gallery in Fashion Island has already had eight pieces

stolen, losing on average about one a year. And according to local

gallery owners, since Hart’s death last year, the temptation for thieves

has increased because the work can garner anywhere from $3,000 to

$500,000 each.

“They walk in during business hours, take a piece and walk out,” said

Callie Crosetto, director at the Lahaina Gallery, adding that two men

were recently arrested and one was tried in connection to the thefts.

Hart’s work, with its soft light-catching quality, is particularly

popular among buyers on the West Coast and Hawaii. As a result, the

thefts are also concentrated in these regions, said Sharon Flescher,

director of the New York-based International Foundation for Art Research,

which specializes in art theft and authenticity.

“In 1998, there were thefts in Carmel, Laguna Beach and San Diego,”

Flescher said. “In Vail, Colorado, someone shoplifted three Hart

sculptures from a gallery.”

Laguna Beach, with its numerous galleries, has proved to be good hunting

ground for thieves, who have stolen anywhere from three to nearly a

half-dozen pieces from various collections, said Mark Hamlett, director

of the Richard Thomas Gallery in Laguna.

Hart, who died of cancer at age 55, also created the famous figurative

sculpture for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“Obviously, there’s a black market out there,” Hamlett said. “They’re

very organized and very savvy. In the past, Erte was hot. It just seems

to be whoever’s popular.”

The black market in the art world rakes in millions annually. There are

Web sites, a special FBI division and other organizations devoted to

recovering lost art or warning galleries about purchasing stolen pieces.

However, Robert Chase, president of Sculpture Group Limited in Chicago,

which distributes Hart’s work to galleries around the nation, has a

different view of the thefts.

“I wish Rick were here for me to tell him people like this work so much,”

Chase said. “In a way, it’s a tribute to him.”

Chase was Hart’s patron in the early days after seeing his work at the

National Cathedral in Washington. Upon seeing the drafts for the

sculpture called “Creation,” Chase said he felt a life force emerging and

was compelled to share the artist’s work with others.

Still, local gallery owners aren’t as flattered by the attention and are

at a loss about what to do. While the Lahaina Gallery has spoken to

Newport Beach police and is working on crime prevention, they’ve yet to

know whether their efforts will completely stop the thieves.

“There’s not much we can do,” Crosetto said. “The one rare time I saw a

guy, I ran after him and he dropped the piece.”

Hamlett agreed.

“Thieves are thieves and when they want something, they’re going to get

it,” Hamlett said. “There’s nothing you can do about that.”