Stolen bushfire relief painting recovered after 'world's most hopeless art heist'
A painting by a celebrated Sydney artist allegedly stolen from a Mascot business while the paint was still wet has been recovered.
Artist Laura Jones had created the 81 x 61-centimetre oil work to auction at the National Art School's Home: Bushfire Relief Art Auction Fundraiser and had taken it to the business to have it photographed for the auction last week.
Laura Jones' bushfire relief painting has been recovered by policeCredit:Janie Barrett
A man allegedly came into the business last Friday to enquire about purchasing art before the artwork valued between $10,000 and $12,000 was allegedly stolen.
"It’s a saturated red painting, he’s going to have red paint all over his hands," Ms Jones told the Herald at the time. "It’s probably the most hopeless art heist in history."
On Thursday, detectives from South Sydney recovered the art work and charged a man over the alleged theft.
Ms Jones said on Friday she was thrilled to have it back. "I can't believe it. It's a little bit damaged but not too bad," she said.
Following the loss of the original work, Ms Jones submitted another smaller painting to the auction which raised $4000 for bushfire relief.
Ms Jones, who has been a finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Award, the Doug Moran Portrait Prize and the Shirley Hannan Portrait Award, said that she was keen to contribute to the bushfire relief fundraiser because her family and friends had been affected by the crisis over the summer.
"I grew up in the Blue Mountains so it’s really been in my community and family. I really wanted to make something special, so I put some banksias in from my uncle's property, which was burnt quite badly," she said.