Stolen Pissarro painting returned to France - France in the United States / Embassy of France in Washington, D.C.
On January 25, the US customs service returned to France a rare color monotype by French painter Camille Pissarro. Entitled “The Fish Market,” this work had been stolen from the Faure Museum in Aix-les-Bains (South-East of France) in 1981.
The restitution ceremony took place at the Kreeger Museum in Washington, DC. France’s Ambassador to the United States, François Delattre, received the painting from John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The painting will be returned to the galleries of the Faure Museum in France in the next several weeks.
This repatriation of a historic and precious work of art is the result of exemplary collaboration between ICE, Interpol, U.S. and French Customs, and the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Returning a painting to a museum is indeed a significant contribution to the celebration of our cultural heritage and a gift to all future visitors, but it is also another great illustration of Franco-American friendship and cooperation,” Ambassador Delattre said.
After last year’s return of paintings by Edgar Degas and Jules Breton, this latest repatriation demonstrates yet again the high level of cooperation between France and the United States in the fight against art trafficking.