WASHINGTON - It began as an irresistible story: a tiny, long-forgotten painting by a French master found at flea market in the West Virginia panhandle.

The back story was equally irresistible: Impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir was at lunch in Paris by the Seine River in 1879 with his mistress when he grabbed a linen napkin and used it to paint her a keepsake.

The painting - "Paysage Bords de Seine" or "On the Shore of the Seine" - was bought for $7 in a box of knickknacks. In September it was announced that it was being put up for auction in Alexandria, Virginia. Since then, an intriguing mystery has unfolded with an assortment of characters.

A widowed art collector, perplexed museum officials, the insistent buyer and the FBI all have become part of the tale that shows how gems can lie hidden among everyday items, just waiting to be revealed.

It began after the flea market buyer, Marcia Fuqua, known early on only as "Renoir Girl," approached The Potomack Co. auction house, where owner Elizabeth Wainstein confirmed the unsigned painting's authenticity. Its original sale was in 1926 in Paris. It was valued at $100,000.

But as international attention grew - it was a Renoir, after all, even if just a tiny one, at 5 1/2 inches by 9 inches - Wainstein suddenly called off the auction.

Shocker: It Was Stolen!

A Washington Post reporter was curious about the painting's history and an early owner's ties to the Baltimore Museum of Art. The reporter found an entry for the artwork in a museum catalog. Museum officials were surprised to learn it had once been displayed in their galleries, and even more shocked when they discovered that "On the Shore of the Seine" had been stolen off their walls in 1951.

Enter the FBI. It seized the painting, setting up a legal skirmish over the ownership of a minor but colorful Renoir, whose value had suddenly dropped to $22,000 because of the dispute, according to one art expert.

Now it is up to a judge in Virginia to decide who owns the painting.

"We couldn't have made it up any better," Wainstein said. Claims are due by Tuesday. The Baltimore Museum of Art is expected to make a strong case for ownership.

The 1926 owner was Saidie May, the late Baltimore philanthropist and noted art collector. The wealthy arts patron made hundreds of donations to the museum. She paid for a wing of the museum in her name.

The Renoir was on loan to the museum when it was stolen. It was also going to be given to the museum as part of May's estate. Washington Post reporter Ian Shapira discovered that the painting was listed in a separate catalog of art that was on loan, even though museum officials had said they had no record of owning the painting.

Adding to the mystery was why the painting was not listed on the Art Loss Register, an international database for missing and stolen works.

"Small, Insignificant ... On A Napkin"

May died in 1951, the same year as the theft. In her will, she left virtually all her artworks to the museum, which seems to have only added to the painting's confusing history.

There's yet another twist: The Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., which insured the Renoir and the museum itself until 1991, contends that it is the legal owner of the painting because it paid a claim of $2,500 on it after the theft. But the company has said it will relinquish its claim and transfer the work to the museum, at no cost.

May's great-niece, Amalie Ascher, a retiree who lives outside Baltimore, also is listed as a possible claimant for the Renoir, though she dismisses the possibility.

"I don't see where I come in," she said in an interview.

In fact, Ascher, who remembers having to visit her aunt twice a year, dismissed the Renoir, as well.

"It's a very small, insignificant painting," she said. "It's on a napkin. As far as I'm concerned, it's a closed chapter."

Fuqua, who claims to have uncovered the disputed painting at a flea market outside Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, insists that she is entitled to it.

But her story is undergoing scrutiny. The Washington Post has reported that several acquaintances of the Fuquas, along with a family member who later retracted his statement, say the painting was in Fuqua's mother's house for many years. Her mother was an art teacher, and Fuqua sometimes helped her in the studio.

Fuqua, a former blackjack dealer at a casino who now teaches driving in Virginia, has indicated to the court that she intends to file a claim, even as questions swirl around her. She could not be reached for comment and her attorney did not return a phone call.

Judge Will Decide, Mystery Will Remain

Wainstein, the owner of the auction house, spoke to Fuqua about the painting several months ago and thinks that she will file a claim.

"She wants it to be cleared up," Wainstein said. "She hopes she'll be able to retain ownership."

In a six-page letter in December to the FBI, Fuqua made a claim on the painting and demanded its return.

U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride responded by filing a case for the government to retain custody of the painting until the court decides the rightful owner. The FBI asked art appraiser Ted Cooper to determine its fair market value.

The judge's impending ruling in the case is not likely to shed light on what happened after the Renoir disappeared from the museum.

For now, it all remains a mystery, set in a richly textured palette of high and low culture, and at its center an appealing little painting by an immortal artist reportedly discovered in a box of bargains.

"We are investigating," FBI spokeswoman Jacqueline Maguire said. "We are trying to track back the painting since it was stolen."]]>