Stolen artworks recovered, suspect arrested
FIVE PIECES OF ARTWORK, including three paintings by Taos Society of Artists, that were stolen in December from a truck parked at a Boulder, Colo. hotel have been recovered and a suspect is in custody, according to Boulder police.
The works by TSA artists Joseph Henry Sharp, Eanger Irving Couse and Ernest Martin Hennings, along with non-TSA paintings by Jane Freilicher and Elaine de Kooning, were recovered “in good shape” along with a cache of guns, drugs and other stolen items, Boulder police said on Monday (Jan. 9).
A suspect identified as Brandon Camacho-Levine, 31, was arrested and booked on numerous charges: two felony counts of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon; four felony counts of drug distribution/manufacturing; one felony count of first-degree vehicle trespass; two felony counts of theft ($100,000-$1,000,000); two misdemeanor counts of theft ($300-$999); one misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools; three felony charges of failure to appear; and one felony charge of special drug offender distributing drugs while in possession of a firearm.
The recovery began Saturday (Jan. 7) when Patrol Officer Patrick Meehan “learned the artwork stolen from a truck in Boulder on Dec. 14 was at a hotel in the City of Lakewood. Boulder Police then coordinated with the Lakewood Police Department to search the hotel room and arrest the suspect,” Boulder police stated.
“A search of the room resulted in the recovery of all the stolen artwork, valued at more than $400,000, still intact, as well as numerous other stolen items, such as handguns and electronics,” according to police. “Additionally, officers recovered a large stash of drugs, specifically nearly 2,000 fentanyl pills and 23 grams of methamphetamine.”
Police suspect Camacho-Levine didn’t know the valuable artwork was inside the truck when he broke into the vehicle last month.
“This is a prime example of the great police work our officers do every day in Boulder, and I could not be more proud of Officer Meehan, Patrol, the Special Enforcement Unit and our partners at the Lakewood Police Department. Not only did we recover this artwork still intact, but we also took these deadly drugs that plague our community off the street,” Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said in a prepared statement.
The Taos Society of Artists were a group of painters who are credited with founding Taos as a significant art colony when they settled here after 1898.
Sharp, who had previously been to Taos, encouraged painters Couse and Ernest Blumenschein to visit. After their wagon suffered a broken wheel while on a painting trip to Mexico in 1898, Couse and Blumenschein came to Taos and discovered for themselves why Sharp was so interested in painting this area. They stayed and later founded the TSA as other painters made their way to Taos.
The five artworks listed by Boulder police are “Taos Pueblo at Night” by Eanger Irving Couse, “View of the Taos Pueblo” by Joseph Henry Sharp, “Laguna Pueblo” by Ernest Marin Hennings, “Untitled Madrid Series #3” by Elaine de Kooning, and “Burnett’s Barn” by Jane Freilicher.
“This has created quite a buzz in our art world,” said Davison Koenig after first learning of the theft. Koenig is executive director and curator of the Couse-Sharp Historic Site, a specialized repository of works by two of the original TSA founders in Taos. “We even had Bonhams Auctions contact us to keep our ear to the ground, in case we hear anything because it’s a small art world.”
Bonhams is a worldwide network of “auction houses consigning and selling fine art, collectables, motoring, furniture, wine and more,” according to its website.
A Thursday (Jan. 5) story in Artforum revealed that “the paintings by Couse, Hennings and Sharp were all sold by auction house Bonhams in Los Angeles this past November as part of a sale of works in the collection of G. Andrew Bjurman.”
According to a Friday (Jan. 6) story in The Santa Fe Reporter, the painting by Sharp sold for approximately $38,000 and the Couse for nearly $71,000 — which The Reporter stated “was owned by Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe at one point in its history.” The Hennings for about $20,000. The TSA paintings were headed to unnamed “private owners and a gallery” in Santa Fe.
The de Kooning and Freilicher were “en route to a Colorado couple,” Artforum reported.
The Boulder Police statement said the theft occurred when “a company transporting several pieces of artwork across the country stayed the night at a hotel in the 5300 block of South Boulder Road. The next morning, they discovered that an unknown person(s) had cut the padlock on the truck and stolen several pieces of artwork and tools.”
Theft of artwork is a rarity, but it does continue to happen. “More often, thieves spot a vulnerability in a museum’s security system, steal the art, and find out later that it is harder to move than they previously thought,” an Aug. 24, 2020 Artnet News article states. Some thieves have been known to try and sell artworks to museums or ransom works to an insurance company. Then, the article adds, some try to sell it on the black market.
Anyone with additional information about this crime is asked to call Detective R. Montano-Banda at 303441-1906 reference case 22-12364.