Artifact World Gallery
Get the iOS app

Jane L. Van Reid by American 19th Century

American 19th Century · c. 1810

This is "Jane L. Van Reid," a portrait from around 1810 by an unknown American artist. It hangs today in the Forbes Library in Northampton, Massachusetts, but for 34 years it wasn't there at all. In 1980, someone took a razor to the frame, cut the canvas away, and disappeared with it.

The painting shows a woman in a modest brown gown and a white ruffled bonnet, holding an open book. The book is the key. At a time when women's literacy was not universal, this portrait quietly insists on her intellect. Her hand cradles the pages carefully, and her profile suggests someone lost in thought, not merely posing.

The theft was discovered on a quiet morning. A patron noticed the empty frame. No alarm sounded. For decades, the case went cold. Then in 2014, a South Boston man sorting through a relative's attic found a rolled-up canvas in a plastic bag. He brought it to an appraiser, who recognized it from old FBI notices. The painting was returned to Forbes the following year, a little worse for wear, but intact.

A woman painted 200 years ago, seen reading silently, was stashed in an attic and nearly forgotten again. Now she is back on the wall, still reading.

Details

She sat in a public library for decades, unnoticed.
She sat in a public library for decades, unnoticed.
For 34 years, no one knew where she had gone.
For 34 years, no one knew where she had gone.
She was found in 2014, stashed in an attic in South Boston.
She was found in 2014, stashed in an attic in South Boston.
Now look at what she is holding.
Now look at what she is holding.
The stolen bookworm returned to the library she came from.
The stolen bookworm returned to the library she came from.
Transcript

She sat in a public library for decades, unnoticed. Then, in 1980, someone cut her from the frame and vanished. For 34 years, no one knew where she had gone. She was found in 2014, stashed in an attic in South Boston. Now look at what she is holding. An open book. She wants you to know she could read. The stolen bookworm returned to the library she came from.