Fourth of Five Paintings Returned Anonymously

A week of intrigue in the Harvard art world escalated over the weekend when the fourth of five murals stolen during the College's 350th ball was returned anonymously to its artist.

At an off-campus party Saturday night, Mary Rhinelander '83, who painted three of the five works, was told by a party guest that one of her paintings had been delivered to the gathering. The guest spoke on condition of anonymity and decline to reveal the deliverer's name either to Rhinelander or to The Crimson.

Rhinelander said the man in possession of the painting delivered it to a friend at the party, who in turn told Rhinelander of its arrival. "I'm really happy to get this particular painting back. It's my favorite painting," she said.

Saturday's return marked the third anonymous delivery of the stolen works over the past five days. A fifth painting stolen during the October 12 ball remains at large.

Two murals were returned Wednesday after a man contacted Rhinelander and fellow artist Ethan Johnson '84 instructing them that the paintings would be left in Thayer Hall's south entry.

The next evening, an anonymous freshman contacted the artists to say he had another of the missing murals. The caller said the second return was prompted by a Crimson article of that day which told of the return of the first two murals.

Rhinelander said she received a third mysterious phone call at 12:30 a.m. Friday from a man who claimed to possess a fourth of the purloined artworks. "I gave the caller Ethan's phone number because he painted this particular mural," said Rhinelander.

But Johnson said the anonymous caller has not yet contacted him about a return.

Now that all of Rhinelander's paintings have been returned, she said she hopes to photograph them and put them in her portfolio.

"I made the mistake of not putting them in my portfolio to begin with. I want to make sure that now I'll have a record of my work," Rhinelander said.

She said that during the ball she was made a $900 offer to purchase the most recent return, a 9 ft.-by-6 ft. modern work. The local artist said she is trying to reach the would-be buyer, who is in New York, to find out whether he is still interested.