‘Somebody took them for money’: gallery owner hopes for safe return of stolen paintings worth nearly $9K

The Winnipeg Police Service is seeking the public’s help after two paintings worth nearly $9,000 were stolen from an Exchange District art gallery last month.

An unknown thief (or thieves) smashed a window at Warehouse Artworks sometime between 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 14 and 5:42 a.m. on Aug. 15 and stole the two paintings, police said in a news release Saturday.

Both paintings had been hanging in the window, said Rod Sasaki, the owner and founder of the nearly half-century old gallery, which focuses on works by Manitoba and Winnipeg-based artists.

As for the thief’s motivation, that’s not much of a mystery to Sasaki.

“It seemed to me like somebody took them for money,” he said. “One of them had a large (visible) price tag on it, which we won’t do again — put something with a large price tag in the window.”

He said while the gallery has seen numerous windows broken over the years, they’ve never encountered a theft of this nature before.

The first stolen painting, “Lady of the Lake,” an oil work by Marianne Thompson, was listed for sale at $8,250, according to the gallery’s website. The artwork depicts the Grace Anne II, an 85-foot mahogany yacht built in the early 1930s.

Thompson’s work is described on the gallery’s website as continuing in the style of the Group of Seven, who were known for their landscape scenes and bold use of colours, when rendering their distinctly Canadian works.

Thompson said the owner of the gallery told her in-person about the theft.

“I was agog at first. You think of art theft, heists and real artists’ paintings. It was shocking,” Thompson said when reached by phone Saturday at her home in Gloucester, MA.

“It did have a high price tag on it, but I think most people know art isn’t worth anything until it’s purchased. I mean, that’s what establishes its value, the fact that it’s been sold.”

She said she’s hoping the gallery’s insurance will cover the painting.

The second painting, an acrylic work titled “First Snow of the Season,” by Ida MacKenzie, was listed at $550. MacKenzie is based in Oakbank.

The best case scenario, Sasaki said, is that both paintings “come back in good shape — wherever they may be.”

The paintings’ unique nature may make them harder for the thieves to sell without rousing notice than more commonly stolen items, like bikes, meats and cheeses or metals.

Const. Claude Chancy, a spokesperson with the Winnipeg police, said that with the items in question being “quite unique,” it would be difficult to pawn them off onto an unsuspecting person.

The Grace Anne II yacht has continued to operate on Lake of the Woods, which straddles Ontario, Manitoba and Minnesota, providing luxury cruises. According to the website of the company that operates the vessel, it was built in 1931 as a birthday gift by John Forlong to his wife, Grace Anne.

In 1946, the website says the boat was sold to Ralph Erwin, then owner of the Salisbury House restaurant chain. By the 1950s, it was owned by the 3M Company of St. Paul, MN, which continued to own it for decades.

Thompson said she grew up on Lake of the Woods and still spends four months of the year there. The Grace Anne II used to do an overnight stop near her family’s camp, and Thompson said she’d always wanted to paint it but didn’t think she had the skill.

Finally, in 2020 at the urging of a friend who has since passed on, she took on the challenge.

“She’s the ‘Lady of the Lake.’ She’s the most beautiful boat that’s ever been on the water,” Thompson said. “It’s just a huge part of being there, of all the best things about Lake of the Woods.”

“I personally think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. So it’s a bit annoying that it’s gone now and I’ll have to do another best thing. But that’s what we’re here for.”

Police asked anyone with information — or with security, cellphone, or dashcam video in and around the time of the incident — to contact their major crimes unit at 204-986-6219 or anonymously at Crime Stoppers 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or winnipegcrimestoppers.org.

— with files from The Canadian Press

marsha.mcleod@freepress.mb.ca