Stolen Portrait Returned to Historic Richmond Town after 50 Years
Portrait of Ann Totten. Collection of Historic Richmond Town
On May 26, 2022 Historic Richmond Town welcomed back into its collection a portrait of notable Staten Islander and original daughter of the American Revolution Ann Totten that was stolen in 1970 and remained missing for over 50 years.
On November 9, 1970, a cleaner at Historic Richmond Town (then called Richmondtown Restoration) arrived to work at the Historical Museum to find that several items were missing. A window had been forced open overnight, sometime after the guard's last round, and someone had entered and stolen the items from galleries throughout the building. The stolen items included four paintings–paired portraits of Ann Totten and her husband John painted by the artist John Bradley in 1834, one of a girl named Christine Kip Hopper, and one of a woman identified as Marion (Bruce) Price–and other objects including a silver chalice and paten, two collection plates belonging to the Church of St. Andrew, and three clocks.
Then Director of Richmondtown Restoration, Loring McMillen, reported the theft to the New York City Police department and to the Art Dealers Association of America. News reports and follow-up stories about the theft appeared in the Staten Island Advance, New York Times, New York Post, and other media outlets. Olympic figure skater, former President of Richmondtown Restoration and descendant of the Totten family, Dick Button, even advertised a reward for their return.
In June 1971, three of the portraits, the silver chalice, two collection plates, and five other objects were recovered in Brooklyn from an apartment rented to 23-year-old Billy Joe Redman. The police returned these items to Historic Richmond Town in September, but Ann Totten's portrait was not among them.
On October 6, 2021, Historic Richmond Town received an email from California Bay Area area folk art collector, Gordon Fine, who noticed the portrait listed on the website of a local auction house, Michaan's Auction House. After some research, he discovered that Ann Totten’s portrait had made its way to California and was about to be auctioned, almost 51 years later.
“It is rare to have stolen artwork returned, especially after 50 years,” said Historic Richmond Town CEO, Jessica b. Phillips. “Historic Richmond Town is deeply grateful for good samaritans like Mr. Fine and Mr. Gromadski who were critical in the return of this local treasure. We are truly satisfied to have more closure on the cold case of the Ann Totten portrait.”
Over the following year, Phillips and Collections Manager, Carli DeFillo, began the long process to bring the portrait home. They collaborated with Gordon to determine the authenticity of the portrait as the stolen piece using the original documentation of the theft and the accession records of the portrait. The FBI’s Art Crimes division was notified as was the police department local to the California auction house. The FBI removed the portrait from the auction house, who was originally unaware of the portrait’s status as stolen art, kept it secure, and sent a letter of proof and documentation on behalf of Historic Richmond Town to the consignor, Gregory Gromadzki, a retired art restorer with San Francisco based Picture Restoration Studio. Also originally unaware of the portrait’s history, Gromadzki was instrumental in both the restoration of the portrait as well as its safe return. He was contracted to restore the portrait over two decades ago, but the owner abandoned the piece before it was claimed. In the spring of 2022, Gromadzki voluntarily relinquished the portrait to the FBI, who transported it safely from California to the New York field office, and finally back to Historic Richmond Town on May 26, 2022.
The portrait will be on display in April 2023 at the Historical Museum.