Chubb returns stolen Norman Rockwell painting to original owners

Posted On: Apr. 3, 2017 1:42 PM CST

At the Philadelphia press conference where Chubb returned "Boy Asleep With Hoe" to the Grant family. From left to right: Rob Poliseno, regional executive officer, Mid-Atlantic region, Chubb; Mr. John Grant; Martin Mahoney, director of curatorial operations, Norman Rockwell Museum; and Kelly O’Leary,/ Chubb handout

More than 40 years after paying a family $15,000 for a stolen Norman Rockwell painting, Chubb Ltd. returned the recently found work to the owners in a ceremony on Friday in Philadelphia that included the insurer and the FBI.

Now worth as much as $1 million, Norman Rockwell's 1919 painting “Boy Asleep with Hoe” — also known as “Lazy Bones” or “Taking a Break” — was stolen from a Cherry Hill, New Jersey, home in 1976.

Upon an insurance payout to the homeowners, the insurer acquired the painting's title. According to a press statement by the FBI, the painting was located recently via an anonymous tip.

The family returned the insurance payout to Chubb in exchange for the painting, according to a press release.

“The theft of ‘Boy Asleep with Hoe’ remained one of the art world's greatest mysteries for over four decades. In partnership with the FBI, we're pleased to return it to the Grant family,” said Fran O'Brien, senior vice president of Chubb and division president for its North America personal risk services division, in a press statement.

Chubb says it will donate the funds to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.