FILE – In this March 31, 2017, file photo, John Grant, right, shakes hands with FBI Special Agent Jacob Archer, left, after taking custody of a recovered Norman Rockwell painting stolen during a 1976 break-in at the Grant family's home in Cherry Hill, N.J., at a news conference at the federal building in Philadelphia. A phone bidder made the top offer of more than $900,000 during a Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, sale by Heritage Auctions in Dallas to buy the 1919 oil-on-canvas painting, previously owned by Grant's father Robert and sometimes called "Taking a Break", "Lazybones" or "Boy Asleep with Hoe." Heritage Auctions said the buyer asked to remain anonymous. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Republished November 03, 2017 - 2:44 PM
Original Publication Date November 03, 2017 - 2:01 PM
PHILADELPHIA - A Norman Rockwell painting recently returned to a family after it was stolen from their New Jersey home has sold for over $900,000 at auction.
The 1919 painting is known as "Taking a Break" and "Lazybones," and was featured on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
FBI agents returned the painting to the Grant family in Philadelphia last March, after it was stolen in a break-in more than 40 years ago.
The family knew the painting belonged to them because it still had damage from where their father had struck it with a pool cue.
Heritage Auctions conducted the auction on Friday in Dallas. It had been expected to fetch up to $1.5 million.
Two phone bidders competed for the painting. Heritage said the buyer asked to remain anonymous.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017