Student’s art stolen from Frick Fine Arts Building

Pitt’s Department of Studio Arts and the Pitt police are investigating the theft of a… Pitt’s Department of Studio Arts and the Pitt police are investigating the theft of a student’s painting that was taken earlier this week from the basement of the Frick Fine Arts Building.

The painting was stolen from a wall on the bottom floor of the building on Monday between 4 and 5:30 p.m. The staff of the studio arts department have asked that if the painting is found, it be returned to locker No. 29 in the building’s basement.

No questions will be asked if the painting is returned anonymously, said Karoline Swiontek, an administrative assistant in the Department of Studio Arts.

“All we want is for the painting to be returned,” she said.

To that end, the department has printed and distributed fliers around campus featuring a copy of the painting. The stolen image depicts a woman’s shrouded face on a grey field and was composed for an introduction to painting course as an exercise on developing “convincing flesh tones.”

Department administrators are hopeful that the piece of art will be returned, though they do not have a time frame for their effort to recover the painting.

The painting’s artist declined to comment on the apparent theft, and asked that her name not be included in this story, as she did not know who took the painting or why. She said the painting did not have a title.

No Pitt police officers were available throughout the day yesterday to comment on the missing painting or the investigation, but associate studio arts professor Michael Morrill said that this is not the first time a piece of student art has been taken from the building.

He said that a few years ago, another painting was stolen, but it was later returned.

“The basement of the Frick Fine Arts Building has traditionally been a place to display exceptional work done by students over the past semesters,” Morrill said. “These are pieces that students work quite hard on and develop a relationship with. They are worth a lot.”