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Heritage Auctions returns missing Margaret Keane painting stolen in 1972
The artwork, by the subject of Tim Burton’s film Big Eyes, was taken from the waiting room of a Honolulu dentist’s office.
DALLAS, TX
.- On Nov. 14, 1972, a painting by iconic artist Margaret Keane was stolen from a dentist’s office waiting room in Honolulu, and remained missing for nearly 50 years. On Wednesday, Heritage Auctions reunited the lost artwork with its original owners – among them, the woman depicted in the painting as a 7-year-old girl.
During a media conference at the Dallas-based auction house’s global headquarters, Heritage officials turned over the painting to the family’s representative, Robert Wittman, a former FBI special agent and founder of the agency’s Art Crime Team. The work sold at auction in December 2020, shortly after which Wittman, a renowned art-recovery and security specialist, informed Heritage Auctions it had been stolen from Hawaii in 1972. ....

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