The phrase “boy asleep with hoe” has a rather different meaning these days than it did back in 1976. But nowadays, once again, the phrase is associated with good news nonetheless.
The search for a Norman Rockwell painting stolen 40 years ago from a Cherry Hill, New Jersey home began as the FBI Art Crime Team and the Cherry Hill Police Department descended on the site following a break-in back on June 30, 1976.
A piece of homespun art completed in 1919, an oil on canvas painting 25 inches by 28 inches, had been featured on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. Entitled variously “Boy Asleep with Hoe,” “Lazy Bones” or “Taking a Break,” the painting was just returned to the Grant family after they submitted a claim to insurers Chubb Group.
Following the theft, the painting was entered into the FBI’s National Stolen Art File and the Interpol Stolen Works of Art Database. The painting gained worldwide renown and became one of the art world’s great mysteries. The recovered Rockwell painting is now estimated to be valued anywhere between $600,000 to $1,000,000. That’s a whole bunch more than its valuation at the time it was stolen.
“In partnership with the FBI, we’re pleased to return it to the Grant family,” said Frances O’Brien, the division president of Chubb Group’s North America Personal Risk Services. “Recovered art is often valued at a greater amount than a similar piece, given its unique provenance. While many often assume a piece is out of harm’s way upon recovery, its newfound high-profile status and value can invite new exposures.”
The Chubb Group says The Grant family returned the original claim payment to them in exchange for the painting, and representatives of Chubb Group said they’ll donate the funds to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.
