An artist whose painting was stolen last month from a gallery in Somerville, Massachusetts, was relieved to get his artwork back this weekend.
Adam Leveille was inside his apartment Saturday morning when he got a mysterious voicemail.
“Hey Adam, I can get your paintings returned to you if you call me,” the man on the voicemail said, Leveille recalled.
A few minutes later, a neighbor was knocking on his apartment door.
“She said, ‘There’s a guy that was downstairs when I was walking in the lobby, he was dropping off some artwork for you,'” said Leveille.
A thief stuck into an art exhibit and cut down two paintings.
NBC10 Boston first met Leveille a few weeks ago after one of his paintings was stolen from a gallery space set up inside an apartment building in Somerville.
He’d pretty much given up hope that he’d ever see it again.
“I ran down in my pajamas and opened the mailroom door, and there were the paintings,” he said.
Along with the painting that was suddenly returned, so was another piece by a different artist that had also been stolen.
Both works had been part of an art show that was about to debut.
“A really great resolution in a type of story that doesn’t usually have good, happy endings,” said Leveille.
He thinks the surveillance video released by police on Friday may have led to the artwork being returned.
“It’s one thing to get away with it,” he said. “It’s another thing to see your face and your car on the evening news.”
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Leveille isn’t sure if it was the thief who returned the artwork or someone else.
The original art show was postponed after the theft. That show will now go on starting Wednesday night, with all the artwork in place, but with a few security changes.
“It’s going to be behind glass,” said Leveille. “Everything will be locked up and safe.”
Police say this is still an open investigation. No arrests have been made.
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