The Everhart Museum collected more than $100,000 in insurance money over the theft of an Andy Warhol painting in 2005, the museum's curator testified Wednesday.
In the federal trial of four theft ring suspects, curator James Lansing said the Scranton museum did not file a claim for the theft of a purported Jackson Pollock painting because, unlike the Warhol, it did not own the painting.
Lansing, who was not the curator when the paintings were stolen Nov. 18. 2005, did not specify the amount the museum received.
The insurance payment may help determine the painting's value. The value matters because the indictment charging the four men says they violated a law that outlaws thefts of “objects of cultural heritage.” The law says the objects must be at least 100 years old and worth more than $5,000 or worth at least $100,000 if they are less than 100 years old.
Testimony did not show how much the Everhart received to cover the loss of the Warhol and how much paid for damage caused during the break-in.
On cross-examination, Lansing testified the painting was insured for $35,000 when the museum acquired it more than a decade earlier. Retired Scranton police detective Todd Spinosi testified police found rear-entrance glass doors broken.
Prosecutors plan to call a personal property appraisal specialist, Leon Castner, to testify about about the value of many of the stolen goods. Castner valued the Warhol at $125,000.
In his opening statement Tuesday, attorney Matt Clemente, the lawyer for ring suspect Damien Boland, said Castner isn't an expert art appraiser.
Origins of the paintings
Warhol, whom Lansing described as “America’s pre-eminent pop artist,” painted the stolen acrylic and silkscreen painting, “Le Grande Passion,” in 1984. British-born artist and art collector Michel Roux donated the Warhol to the museum, according to the museum website. Lansing said that happened in 1994.
The authenticity of the Pollock, known as “Springs Winter,” has been questioned for years. Buchanan did not question Lansing about its value or its authenticity. Artist Arthur Byron Phillips claimed Pollock painted it when he donated it to the Everhart in April 2003. Phillips later said Pollock sold the painting for $800 to his mother who hung it in her home for years, but neither had it authenticated. What looks like Pollock's signature at the painting's bottom shows indicates '49 next to the signature, perhaps meaning he painted it in 1949.
The paintings remain missing.
"We do not know where they are," Lansing testified.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Buchanan, the case's lead prosecutor, played a video in court showing both paintings sitting on a floor.
Lansing said he did not know who recorded the video, but said it was not the floor at the museum.
Multiple-count indictment
The trial will decide the fate of Boland, Nicholas Dombek and brothers Alfred and Joseph Atsus, all residents of Lackawanna County’s North Pocono region.
They face a multiple-count indictment that alleges they had roles in a ring that targeted 19 museums and other sites between 1999 and 2019. Other Northeast Pennsylvania targets included the Country Club of Scranton, the Lackawanna Historical Society and Keystone College.
The indictment says Dombek, Alfred Atsus, Boland and Conspirator No. 1 planned the Everhart theft by visiting multiple times. The indictment does not identify Conspirator No. 1, but a criminal information filed against Thomas Trotta matches details of Conspirator No. 1.
Trotta, who has already pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators for years, was the ring’s admitted leader. He is expected to serve as a star witness for prosecutors later.
Joseph Atsus, Boland and Trotta drove to the Everhart. Trotta broke in and stole the paintings as the others waited outside in a vehicle, according to the indictment.
Joseph Atsus and Trotta later drove the paintings to a home the Atsus brothers owned in Union, New Jersey, to store them, the indictment adds.
The paintings’ whereabouts remain unknown. The Atsuses, Boland and Trotta called a hotline set up by the Everhart from Union, New Jersey hoping to collect a reward, according to the indictment.
