Canal at Chiswick Back Where It Belongs

Stolen Standish-Sweeney oil painting spotted on eBay

An oil painting entitled Canal at Chiswick is back with its rightful owners after it was stolen almost twenty years ago.

The work by artist Robert Standish-Sweeney, which was stolen in 1992 from a library in Dorset, was found on eBay.

Secretary of the Standish-Sweeney Collection Trust Elizabeth Goodsell spotted the painting worth around £1,000 on the auction website with a staring bid of £95.

She reported her findings to the Police who tracked down the seller who claimed to have bought the painting in good faith at a house sale for £30.

Weymouth Library bought the painting back for the same sum and it is now on show again as part of the collection.

Mrs Goodsell told Dorset Echo: “This was the only painting we ever had stolen so to get it back is wonderful.

"It’s part of a collection of 200 Standish-Sweeney paintings and it belongs in this area.”

January 6, 2011