FBI Philadelphia
Public Affairs Specialist Sofia Kettler
philadelphia.media@fbi.gov
June 30, 2016

FBI Seeks Missing Norman Rockwell Painting Stolen 40 Years Ago Today

The FBI Art Crime Team and the Cherry Hill Police Department are seeking the public’s assistance in locating a stolen Norman Rockwell painting on the 40th anniversary of its theft. It was one of several items taken from a Cherry Hill, New Jersey home in a June 30, 1976 break-in.

The painting, which dates to 1919, has been known by various titles through the years, including Boy Asleep with Hoe, Taking a Break, and Lazybones. It is oil on canvas, approximately 25 inches by 28 ½ inches, and was featured on the cover of the September 6, 1919 edition of the Saturday Evening Post.

The piece has been entered in the FBI’s National Stolen Art File and Interpol’s Stolen Works of Art Database.

Anyone who may have information on the painting’s theft or current location is asked to contact the FBI at (215) 418-4000 or submit details to tips.fbi.gov; tipsters can remain anonymous.

The FBI Art Crime Team

The FBI established a rapid deployment Art Crime Team in 2004. The team is composed of 16 special agents assigned to field offices across the country, each responsible for addressing art and cultural property crime cases in their assigned geographic region. The Art Crime Team is coordinated through the FBI’s Art Theft Program, located at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Art Crime Team agents receive specialized training in art and cultural property investigations and assist in art-related investigations worldwide in cooperation with foreign law enforcement officials and FBI legal attaché offices.

Since its inception, the Art Crime Team has recovered more than 2,650 items valued at over $150 million.