The Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced on February 2, 2001, the recovery of an Andrew Wyeth painting entitled "The Studio" which was stolen in 1967 from the Sears Vincent Price Art Gallery located in Chicago, Illinois. The art gallery has since closed.

Wyeth, the youngest son of American illustrator Newell Convers (N.C.) Wyeth, was born in 1917. By the age of 20, he was given his first one-person gallery shows in Philadelphia and New York. His first solo exhibition at a museum was in 1951. Since then, his work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at many galleries, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the National Gallery of Art.

"The Studio" is a watercolor painted by Wyeth in 1966. For over thirty years, attempts to locate the painting have been unsuccessful. In late 2000, however, the FBI was notified that the painting was about to be auctioned at Christie's Auction House in New York. Investigation by the FBI confirmed, in fact, that the painting about to be auctioned was stolen in the 1967 incident in Chicago. At the time of the theft the painting had a value of approximately $30,000; it is now estimated to be worth as much as $500,000.

In January 2001, FBI Agents in New York and Chicago took possession of the painting and notified the Sears, Roebuck and Co. (Sears) of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, of the recovery. The painting has been shipped to FBI Chicago and efforts are underway to return the painting to Sears, which acquired the assets from the Sears Vincent Price Art Gallery upon its closure. Although no arrests have been made in this case, investigation is continuing to determine the ownership history of the painting since the theft. The FBI is interested in learning more about the history of the painting since the 1967 theft and is requesting that any individual that may have such information to contact the FBI at (312) 431-1333.