CALIFORNIA COMPUTER STOLEN Three agencies investigating multimillion-dollar Pebble Beach art theft | thecalifornian.com | The Salinas Californian: "Three agencies investigating multimillion-dollar Pebble Beach art theft
Missing works of art include a van Gogh, Jackson Pollock

By Sunita Vijayan • svijayan@thecalifornian.com • September 29, 2009


Millions upon millions of dollars worth of artwork by artists including Jackson Pollock, Rembrandt and Matisse were stolen Friday from a Pebble Beach home, a spokesman said Monday.

Owners A. Benjamin Amadio and Dr. Ralph Kennaugh are offering $1 million for the return of at least 13 art pieces, undamaged.

They're also offering $5 million for the arrest and conviction of the burglar or burglars, said Chris Marohn of the Carmel-based law office of Vicki St. John.

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident. Private investigators have also been hired to look into the case, and the insurance company that insured some of thestolen pieces is running its own investigation, Marohn said.

The stolen pieces include one by Jackson Pollock, three by G.H. Rothe, one by Matisse, four by Miro, two by Rembrandt, a Renoir and a van Gogh.

While it's unclear exactly how much the art pieces are worth, Marohn said, the Pollock's estimated value ranges from $20 million to $60 million. The other art pieces are collectively estimated at $7 million.

Sheriff's Cmdr. Mike Richards said deputies were called Friday evening to the home on Sunridge Road. The theft probably occurred between 1 and 6:48 p.m. that day, Richards said. Besides the artwork, he said, a computer and $3,100 in cash were stolen.

"We are actively investigating the case," said Richards. He said he was unsure if the county had ever seen a heist of such magnitude before.

Marohn of the law office said Amadio and Kennaugh met 10 years ago at a venture capitalist meeting in Ohio. Kennaugh, a former Harvard medical professor and doctor of oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Massachusetts, had lived in Boston until three months ago.

Marohn said his office's clients had rented the home while waiting for construction to finish at their new residence. The stolen art pieces, which had been collected over the past decade, were propped in the hallways of the rental home and were among more than 100 art pieces at the residence.

The discovery of the theft was made Friday, Marohn said, and a bedroom window was broken.

"The owner of the property has been put on notice several times about security issues at the house," he said.

He said few people knew the pair had the artwork on the West Coast.

"These pieces were very personal to our clients," Marohn said. "They were never going to go to auction; they were going to be passed down from families to families."