SOUTH JERSEY

Feds: Cherry Hill man has our painting

Jim Walsh
@jimwalsh_cp

CAMDEN - When Matthew Schwartz offered a painting for sale in October 2015, the Cherry Hill art dealer got an immediate response.

But it didn't come from a potential buyer.

Matthew Schwartz, a Cherry Hill art dealer, is shown with "1934 Farmer," an oil painting from the Depression Era.

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Instead, the federal government contacted Schwartz, saying it was the legitimate owner of a portrait he had listed on eBay for $8,500.

The painting, "1934 Farmer" by John Slavin, was created more than 80 years ago under a federal program that employed artists during the Depression Era, according to the U.S. General Services Administration.

The art belonged to Uncle Sam back then — and still does, the GSA said. Now, the agency has taken Schwartz to federal court in Camden, asking a judge to order the painting’s return.

Schwartz’s take on the dispute is succinct.

“They can’t have it,” he declared in an interview.

“I’m going to argue that they have no rights to the painting,” added Schwartz, who asserts he bought "1934 Farmer" on the open market several years ago and carefully restored what had become a “decrepit” work.

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“The only reason they want it is because I saved it,” Schwartz said of the oil-on-canvas painting, which shows a pipe-smoking man with an impressive mustache, wearing a homespun suit as he sits in a chair.

“It’s my care for the painting that makes it desirable.”

But Schwartz, who runs online art dealership alphabetcityart.com, might face an uphill battle.

The GSA since 2001 has been pursuing the return of “lost and stolen” artwork commissioned under the Works Progress Administration, said spokeswoman Sarah Breen. During that period, it's recovered more than 460 works valued at about $4.3 million, she said.

According to its latest report to Congress, the GSA recovered 54 pieces of WPA art from April through September 2015. Those works, although not available for sale, are worth about $500,000.

A detail from "1934 Farmer," a Depression Era portrait at the center of a dispute between the federal government and Cherry Hill art dealer Matthew Schwartz.

“Not all recoveries require direct intervention,” Breen said. “Some are ‘turn-ins’ as a result of publicity or Internet searches, which reveal the government’s ownership.”

The recovered artworks ultimately will be placed on loan “to institutions across the country for display,” according to the GSA.

The federal complaint against Schwartz says government-commissioned works originally were “loaned or allocated” to government entities, nonprofits and “tax-supported organizations.”

“It was clearly stated that the federal government would hold full legal title to artwork on long-term loan," says the suit, which was filed May 23.

It contends “inactivity” and “neglect” do not affect the government’s ownership and that "only Congress can authorize the disposal of federal property."

Cherry Hill art dealer Matthew Schwartz and the federal government are disputing ownership of this oil painting, "1934 Farmer" by John Slavin.

Slavin’s painting was held for decades by the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, which disposed of it in 1990, according to Schwartz. A museum representative could not be reached.

“Twenty-six years later, I have the painting,” said Schwartz, who offered no details about his purchase of the work within the past year or so.

“They’ll get that on discovery,” he said, referring to the information-gathering phase of a legal action. “Don’t make it easy for them.”

The complaint says Schwartz’s sales offer initially cited the painting's frame, which had a Works Progress Administration plaque, and an identification label for the Public Works of Art Project, which employed Slavin in 1933 and 1934.

Those references disappeared after the GSA contacted Schwartz, the complaint says. It says Schwartz pulled the painting from eBay, then offered it again for three days in November 2015, “this time for $10,500.”

The second sales attempt came after the GSA had confirmed its ownership of "1934 Farmer" and sent a representative to Schwartz’s home, the complaint asserts. “Mrs. Schwartz answered the door, stated her husband was not home and declined to provide any further information."

Schwartz said sales of WPA artworks are common, a claim quickly supported by an Internet search. He contended the GSA’s crackdown only threatens to drive those transactions underground.

“There’s commerce in these paintings every day,” he said. “They have entire photography auctions where every piece is stamped ‘WPA.'”

“I’m so looking forward to this,” Schwartz said of his looming fight with the feds. “This is a big deal.”

Jim Walsh; (856) 486-2646; jwalsh@gannettnj.com