Local artist Robert McCintock is best known for his paintings of Baltimore skylines and city scenes, but the thief who walked into his Fells Point store on Saturday had a knack for some of his more playful works of art.
“Three dog pictures, which is a very specific niche of theft, I guess, and one of Fells Point,” McClintock said.
At around 1 p.m. last Saturday, someone walked into the studio and gallery located at 1809 Thames Street and made off with nearly $1,500 in artwork.
“I was doing a little work in my studio, which is out of sight, and I saw someone come in and leave very quickly. There was no one there, so I went back into my studio and then on my TV monitor I saw someone come in and leave very quickly again, and I thought that was strange,” McClintock said.
About an hour later, he discovered someone stole around 30 miniature prints valued at $240. Two hours later, he realized that the four paintings hanging in the window, valued at $295 each, were no longer there.
“They were hanging and then they took them right out of the window,” said McClintock.
AT 5: Art thief strikes #FellsPoint gallery. The artist was surprised by the thief's selection.Hear why on @ABC2NEWS pic.twitter.com/eWALA7nx0U
— Mallory Sofastaii (@MalloryABC2) July 20, 2016
In his 15 years of having a gallery, McClintock has never encountered a shoplifter. That's partly why he never thought to get security cameras. He also thought his watchdog and pitbull mix Super Lou would deter any thieves, however, he wasn’t any help on Saturday.
“He slept through it,” said McClintock.
He’s now making adjustments and cameras will be installed soon, but the brazen theft threw him off.
“My trust factor is on edge right now, you know, I'm looking at everyone who comes in now,” McClintock said.
He never made contact with the shoplifter, which he said is probably for the best, but McClintock is wondering what the person plans to do with his paintings.
“Maybe they went up to Artscape and stood on the corner and sold some pictures. And then maybe they went home and banged a nail against the wall and hung it on the wall and are enjoying my pictures? I don't know, it's weird,” he said.
In any case, if you happen to see the stolen paintings for sale somewhere, you know where they came from.
“They say crime is local, maybe they'll turn up somewhere?” said McClintock.
The four paintings were of a Chocolate Lab, Yellow Lab, Rottweiler, and Thames Street in Fells Point.
If you happen to see them, you’re asked to give police a call. And if you happen to just like the paintings, there's more for sale at his gallery. Click here for a link to his website.
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