Earlier this week, a General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) special agent in San Francisco, California, recovered a Works Progress Administration (WPA) painting, Landscape #23, by WPA artist Dong Kingman.
Efforts to recover the painting began earlier this month when the special agent received a tip that the artwork had been listed for sale on eBay. The special agent reached out to the eBay seller regarding the listing and explained GSA OIG’s art recovery project. The eBay seller agreed to remove the listing from eBay. The painting’s possessor agreed to voluntarily return the art to the United States.
While picking up the artwork, the special agent learned that the artwork was originally located in Sacramento High School. When the school was demolished several years ago, a former teacher took possession of the painting, fearing it would be destroyed during the building's demolition.
GSA’s Fine Arts Program will work to find a location to publicly display the painting.
Image of Landscape #23
