Police are investigating the disappearance of late artist Tsao Teng-hung’s (曹登閎) painting The Rabbit, which went missing on Friday while on display at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park.
Tsao’s family reported the painting missing to the police and wrote about it online.
There are surveillance cameras in the hallway by the exhibit, but none in the exhibition hall, the police said.
Photo copied by Yao Yueh-hung, Taipei Times
People should not purchase paintings of unknown origin to avoid breaking the law, police said.
This is an important painting of Tsao’s that the family would never sell, Tsao’s younger brother, Tsao Teng-hsiung (曹登雄), said yesterday, adding it was the only remaining connection between the family and his late brother.
The family had hoped that more people would get to know his brother’s artworks through the exhibition, but did not expect that a painting would be stolen in broad daylight, he said.
Photo: Yao Yueh-hung, Taipei Times
“If you are the one who stole it, please return it to us,” he said.
The painting was in the hall at about 11am on Friday, but was missing when the exhibit organizer arrived at about 2pm, he said.
The one person guarding the free and open exhibition was on a lunch break when the painting went missing, he said.
Tsao Teng-hung was born in 1989 and graduated from Taiwan National University of Arts’ Department of Fine Arts in 2011.
Tsao’s works are mostly watercolor and oil paintings that feature old trees, making The Rabbit a rare and commemorative work.
GaryTu Fashion Illustration Co reported the painting missing at 12:30pm on Friday, police said.
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