Art thieves escaped with two paintings valued at more than $20,000 early Tuesday after possibly using an ice pick to break a front window at Hambleton Galleries.
The smash-and-grab at 1290 Ellis St. – about one block from the Kelowna RCMP detachment – occurred between 5:30 and 5:45 a.m., said Const. Steve Holmes.
“Police arrived within minutes of the alarm going off, but patrols in the area turned up no suspects.”
Police are reviewing the store‘s surveillance video in an attempt to identify those involved. Police are also circulating photos of the one-of-a-kind paintings, asking anyone who sees them to call the RCMP detachment at 250-762-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
“They were able to carve a hole into the window with an ice pick and were able to take two paintings out that were approximately three feet at their narrowest,” said Kelowna artist Kenna Graff, who is taking care of the gallery for owners Stewart and Tracy Turcotte.
“Actually, I think it is the first robbery that they had ever since they‘ve owned it. I was very, very, very upset. I rushed down there immediately to look after whatever I could.”
The oil-on-board painting Opportunist by Canadian Christopher Walker is valued at $15,000, and the acrylic-on-canvas painting Everything Has Its Beauty by Canadian Carl Schlademan is worth $5,500.
“They are beautiful pieces of art. Christopher Walker is a very established artist who produces beautiful paintings in high realism. Subject matters usually have the ocean or horizons, sometimes whales and waves,” said Graff.
“Carl is an amazing artist as well. He creates still life from fruit, even from wine and glasses, and he also does exceptional Canadian landscapes.”
Hambleton Galleries was established by Canadian artist Jack Hambleton 45 years ago, making it the oldest gallery in the Interior.
The robbery occurred across the street from The Lofts condominiums and Bean Scene coffee shop, which opens at 6 a.m.
When one of the residents of The Lofts came down for a coffee, she was greeted by five police cars, a police SUV, an unmarked RCMP car, two city vehicles, RCMP members, a barking police dog scouring the scene “and this big hole” in the gallery window.
Her worried son called her cellphone to warn her: “Mom, there‘s a crazy dog out there.”
The woman didn‘t hear anything from her condo.
The city hasn‘t had any significant art robberies in a number of years after a rash of six thefts from galleries between October 2005 and May 2006. Top of Page
