Bhat Boy painting stolen from Sussex Drive gallery.
Phil Emond, who works at the Gordon Harrison Gallery on Sussex Avenue, has called on the public to help locate Canada's Four Corners, a painting by Glebe artist Bhat Boy that was stolen last month.
Eddie Rwema
A Sussex Drive gallery is asking for the public’s help in
locating an original painting by a Glebe artist Bhat Boy that was stolen late
last month.
The 23-by-30-centimetre painting, which was selling for $750,
was plucked off the wall of Gordon Harrison Gallery on Feb.20 while about 20
people were inside the shop, said Phil Emond, an employee at the gallery.
“We had a busy Sunday afternoon with many clients in gallery
and when we were closing when things got little calmer, I looked around and
there was a missing spot on the wall,” said Emond
The painting depicts a young couple holding hands at the
intersection of Sparks and O’Connor streets with the Parliament Buildings in
the background.
Emond has reported the theft to Ottawa police, but the
painting has not been recovered.
The gallery has posted a reward for the return of the stolen
artwork.
The Canada’s Four
Corners painting has appeared on greeting cards created by Pierre Belvédère
and sold across Canada.
This is the second theft of art work on Sussex Drive this
year, after a work was reported stolen from the Terrence Robert Gallery in
early February.
Last December, Ottawa This Week reported the theft of a painting
Almonte artist Katherine McNenly from the Cube Gallery on Wellington Street.
“We wonder how they appreciate art when it is stolen,” Emond
said
The gallery has informed the
artist of the theft of his painting and will be compensating him for the loss.
“I spoke to the artist and although he was OK with it, but I
felt compelled to compensate him for the loss of the painting because it wasn’t
his faulty that the artwork got stolen,” Emond stated.
“It is good feeling to know when somebody buys your art. It
is not good feeling to know when somebody steals it.
“I figured they work really hard for what they do, they
shouldn’t be absorbing a loss for somebody who came in and stole the painting.”
Emond appealed to the individual that took the painting to
return it.
“I would like this people to know that what they are doing
is not acceptable,” he said.
While the artist said it feels bad to lose your painting, he
is also flattered.
“I have now joined the club with artists like Leonardo
DaVinci, and Edvard Munch now that I have had my art stolen from a gallery,”
Bhat Boy said.
He said he has had his work stolen twice before. In both
incidents, the artwork was eventually returned, but one did suffer some damage.
“My experience is that it is usually because someone covets
the work, and not because of any sort of monetary reason.”
Bhat Boy recently revealed he will be heading to London on a
sabbatical, but he quickly mentions that he will miss Ottawa.
“I love Ottawa, and it will always be home in my heart,
but I will never be able to join the ranks of international artists unless
I pursue business opportunities in other, more international locations.”
He plans on painting London, and hope to raise his
career to a new level.
“I will still maintain my house in the Glebe which is where
I feel my roots are, even though I am a native of London.”
eddie.rwema@metroland.com