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

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

The painting is called "Paysage Bords de Seine" or "On the Shore of the Seine." It was bought for $7 in a box of odds and ends. But a mystery has unfolded since it was announced in September that the painting would be sold at auction.

The buyer was Marcia Fuqua, known early on only as "Renoir Girl." She said she found the painting at a flea market. Then she contacted The Potomack Co. auction house. Owner Elizabeth Wainstein confirmed that the unsigned painting was real. Its original sale was in 1926 in Paris. It was valued at $100,000.

The painting was no bigger than a paperback, but it attracted attention from all over the world. It was a Renoir, after all. Then suddenly, Wainstein called off the auction.

Loaned To Museum, Then Stolen

A Washington Post reporter was curious about the painting's history and an early owner's ties to the Baltimore Museum of Art. He found an entry for it in a museum catalog. Museum officials were surprised to learn it had once hung in their galleries. They were even more shocked when they discovered that the painting had been stolen in 1951.

The FBI seized the painting. That started a legal battle over the ownership of the Renoir, whose value had dropped to $22,000 because of the dispute.

Now it is up to a judge 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 case for ownership.

The 1926 owner was Saidie May. She was a wealthy and generous Baltimore art collector. May donated hundreds of pieces to the museum.

The Renoir was on loan to the museum when it was stolen. Washington Post reporter Ian Shapira discovered that the painting was listed in a catalog of art that was on loan.

More Twists To The Mysterious Tale

But the painting was not listed on an international database for missing and stolen works. This just added to the mystery.

May died in 1951, the same year as the theft. Her will gave nearly all her artworks to the museum. The death seems to have only added to the painting's confusing history.

There are other twists. An insurance company says that it really owns the painting because it paid a claim of $2,500 on it after the theft. But the company also said it will give the work to the museum.

May's great-niece, Amalie Ascher, a retiree, also is listed as a person who could claim to own the Renoir. But she dismisses the possibility.

In fact, Ascher, who remembers having to visit her aunt twice a year, does not think much of the painting.

"It's a very small, insignificant painting," she said. "It's on a napkin."

Fuqua says she found the painting at a flea market in West Virginia. She insists that she is entitled to it.

Found At Flea Market, Or At Home?

But her story is being looked at closely. The Washington Post reported that several acquaintances of the Fuquas say the painting was in her mother's house for years. So did a family member who later took back his statement. Fuqua's mother was an art teacher and Fuqua sometimes helped her in the studio.

Fuqua is a former blackjack dealer who now teaches driving in Virginia. She has indicated that she plans to file a claim. Reporters could not reach her for comment and her attorney did not return a phone call.

The owner of the auction house spoke to Fuqua about the painting several months ago and thinks that she will ask for the painting.

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

Fuqua demanded the painting's return in December in a letter to the FBI.

The government answered by asking a judge to let it keep the painting until the court decides who really owns it.

The judge's ruling is not likely to help show what happened after the Renoir disappeared from the museum.

For now, it all remains a mystery. At its center is an appealing little painting by a legendary artist that was reportedly discovered in a box of knickknacks.

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