[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Laws are for the "little people" anyway.

[martin_fierro]

[Harpo Speaks]

This makes no sense.

Soielberg is an "avid" Rockwell collector and he doesn't know it was stolen?

Google "norman rockwell" "Russian Schoolroom". The top searches are all about how it was stolen!

Spielberg -- an "avid" collector -- never bothered to google his own Rockwell picture?

Something smells...and it isn't "Hook."

[Elyse]

So we are supposed to believe that he spent a bundle of money on a picture and he didn't even bother to research it for authenticity?

[msnimje]

I can't believe he didn't know it was stolen. It is not in a Rockwell database anywhere? I think I will do a little Google search....

[msnimje]

http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/northamerica/us/paintprint/rockwell/rockwell.htm


First hit on my Google search.

[Brad from Tennessee]

[. . .Spielberg is an avid Rockwell collector. . .]

It's hard for me to believe Spielberg, an aficionado, could not know this painting was stolen.

[Redbob]

Spielberg "didn't know????"
It took me under 3 minutes to find THIS at "fbi.gov":

"On June 25, 1973, an original Norman Rockwell painting, entitled Russian Schoolroom, was stolen during a late night burglary in Clayton, Missouri. The painting was part of a Norman Rockwell Exhibit sponsored by the Chicago office of the Circle Galleries, later known as Arts International Galleries. At the time of the theft, the Russian Schoolroom, oil on canvas, measured 16" X 37", and was presented in a 2' x 4' frame of dull gold-white molding. This painting may also be referred to as The Russian Classroom or Russian Schoolchildren."

I thiknk Spielberg ought to be jailed for possession of stolen goods.

[Brad from Tennessee]

ABC News 3-31-06 FBI looking for stolen Rockwell:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=1791402

[Rembrandt_fan]

A man with Spielberg's resources? He had to know. It is plainly impossible to believe he didn't know.

I recently bought an Ellie Siskind drawing for--well, for me, a lot of money. I happen to know Ellie personally, who is a well-known regional painter with a national reputation. The purchase included proofs of provenance. Imagine then, if I was rich and bought a Rockwell. Not a big fan of his art, but hey, in this fantasy I'm rich enough to buy whatever I want. You better believe any reputable agent acting on my behalf would ensure he or she wasn't dealing in stolen art. Without provenance, the purchase doesn't take place. When talking high-value art, authorities are called when provenance isn't produced.

[A knight without armor]

LOL!

[tubebender]

Bttt...

[EDINVA]

Rockwell's paintings are all so Americana, I really am surprised that Spielberg is a collector, much less an avid collector.

[ApplegateRanch]

Headline should read:

Steven Stealberg Euphemizes His Way Out of Charges

[WorkingClassFilth]

It figures that he'd have a stolen painting of children being brainwashed in a commie school.

[BigSkyFreeper]

"It appears that he is an innocent buyer," says St. Louis-based FBI agent Frank Brostrom, a member of the agency's Art Crime Team, who initiated the investigation.

I call bulls***. I remember this story (stolen Rockwell painting) from last year. Spielberg is playing victim. All liberals do it.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Spielberg purchased the painting in 1989 BG (before Google).

Anybody who knowingly buys a famous stolen painting is not going to publicly display it. It will be locked in a vault somewhere.

[rabidralph]

I guess it was payback for all the art the Nazis stole from the Jews.

[ryan71]

1. If he's an avid collector, he'd have known of pieces that had been stolen.

2. Surely, he did not buy it at a public auction. He'd have bought it privately, which is suspicious.

3. He thinks so little of the public that he was confident no one would recognize it displayed in plain sight.

He knew it was stolen.

[Redbob]

And now the picture of the painting has ALREADY been removed from the FBI.gov website!