Collection of Andy Warhol art stolen from Westside home

 A multimillion-dollar collection of original artwork by famed pop art icon Andy Warhol was stolen last week from a West Los Angeles home, according to police.

On Sept. 3, a housekeeper for noted art collector Richard L. Weisman walked into the dining room of Weisman’s residence on Angelo Drive and noticed several pieces were missing, said Det. Donald Hrycyk, head of the LAPD’s Art Theft detail.

A dozen large portraits that had adorned the walls the day before were gone. Hrycyk said there was no sign of forced entry into the home and that nothing else was disturbed, including several other Warhol paintings hanging on nearby walls. There were no immediate leads or suspects, Hrycyk said.

Weisman left the house a full day before the housekeeper discovered the art missing, leaving it unclear when exactly the theft occurred. 

A $1-million reward has been offered by an anonymous source for information leading to the recovery of the paintings. Weisman, who was friends with Warhol, commissioned the silk-screen paintings in the late 1970s – a time when Warhol produced hundreds of pieces of work for wealthy patrons able to pay the roughly $25,000 he charged for portraits. While not considered by collectors to be examples of Warhol’s best painting work, “The Athletes” series is well-known.

The total value of the work was not immediately known.

"I commissioned him to do this set of athletes because, generally speaking, the worlds of art and sports don't mesh that well," Weisman said in a recent interview with The Times.

Weisman, who could not be reached for comment, lent out the collection, which includes the likenesses of Dorothy Hamill, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali and Chris Evert, in the spring for a benefit exhibition that also featured the artwork of under-privileged children living in Watts.

--Joel Rubin

Photo: LAPD

Comments

[Alex]

Here you go

[George Woods]

Who cares?

[Boils]

As an art dealer all to familiar with art scams: it sounds like insurance fraud to me. Not to accuse - but- it sounds like an insurance scam to me.

[TarheelChief]

The investigation into price fixing by Sotheby's and Christie's made suspect all post WWI art collections.Evidently the dealers and artists became used to a financial steroid,called the auction.But, the fix was in.
Like movie companies, museums adored showing multimillion dollar paintings.Insurance companies became infatuated
with the enormous premiums.
Now the valuation of Warhol will begin in earnest as this museum tries to collect.A Warhol will soon be sold and will establish the new post boom prices.

[Rick J]

"For some reason they had an interest in this collection," he said.

God knows why.

[iron pete]

Even thieves don't have any taste in this day and age, Andy Worhol an artist you are not!

[greg]

inside job. Art? hmmm.

[AH]

Since when is "West Los Angeles" north of Bel Air? I mean, this is several miles north of the Getty center, and east. I don't know what the stupid LA Times neighborhood guide calls that neighborhood, but it sure is not West Los Angeles. The actual "West Los Angeles" neighborhood is about 10 miles south (and west).

[Shawnee Phill]

One thing I have never known, or read, about Andy's
silkscreen "artworks": Did HE actually take the photographs
himself or did he "appropriate" someone else's work and add the pretty colors?
just wondering....

[Bill Stank]

"Weisman tried to sell it in 2002 for $3 million" ... then, "The theft of Warhol's 'Athlete Series' represents a profoundly personal loss to me and my family," Weisman said in a statement.

Uhuh. "profoundly personal loss" but he tried to sell it in 2002 for $3 million.

Insurance scam.

These paintings will be "discovered" 10-15 years from now in some storage shed in NY.

[N Beltranena]

Are we sure it wasn't OJ Simpson?

[LoLo]

if it was a scam then why did the owner reject the 25 million insurance payout? He wants his art back not the money.