This Renoir painting has become a tug-of-war over ownership involving an art museum, a late wealthy benefactor, the flea market buyer, the FBI, a Virginia auction gallery and an insurance company. Photo: The Potomack Co./MCT
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.

###### But a mystery has unfolded since September when it was announced the painting would be sold at auction.

The cast of characters includes a widowed art collector, perplexed museum officials, the pushy buyer and the FBI.

It began with Marcia Fuqua, known early on only as "Renoir Girl." She said she found the painting at a flea market. ###### Its original sale was in 1926 in Paris. It was valued at $100,000.

But international attention grew. ###### Then Wainstein suddenly called off the auction.

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. ###### They were even more shocked when they discovered that "On the Shore of the Seine" had been stolen off their walls in 1951.

Painting Seized, Legal Battle Starts

Enter the FBI. It seized the painting, setting up a legal fight over the ownership of the Renoir. ######

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 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.

###### 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.

The painting was not listed on the Art Loss Register, an international database for missing and stolen works. ######

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

###### But the company has said it will give up 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 person who could claim ownership of the Renoir. But she dismisses the possibility.

######

"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."

Found At A Flea Market?

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.

###### The Washington Post reported that several acquaintances of the Fuquas, along with a family member who later retracted his statement, said 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 is a former blackjack dealer at a casino who now teaches driving in Virginia. ###### She could not be reached for comment and her attorney did not return a phone call.

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."

######

U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride responded by asking a judge to let the government keep the painting until the court decides who the rightful owner is.

The judge's ruling in the case is not likely to shed light on what happened after the Renoir disappeared from the museum 60 years ago.

###### At its center is an appealing little painting by an immortal 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."]]>