2024-04-16
Five paintings by Hans Hofmann, who works in a note of Abstract Expressionism, valued at more than $500,000, were in the storage spaces of Cirkers Hayes until 2003. The works that went missing were owned by the Renate, Hans and Maria Hofmann Trust and were recently found by Art Recovery International.
As the agency has established, the culprit of the theft crime is John Rett, who served as caretaker of the Cirkers Hayes warehouses; moreover, the man had already been linked to the illicit trade of artworks, which were also located in spaces owned by the New York-based company.
In 2016, one of Hofmann's paintings, "The Artist" was auctioned by Heritage Auctions in NYC, but remained without an owner. The work was handed over to Swann Galleries, from where it was recovered by Art Recovery; after the first painting was found, it emerged that the auction house was in possession of a further four lost works, which it also managed to locate, but, according to AR, a sixth work, "Arcanum" is still missing.