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Oct 21, 2006 9:40 am US/Eastern
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Lost Harvard Paintings Found After Three Decades
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (CBS/AP) ―
Two paintings reported missing from Harvard University's collections more than three decades ago have been recovered and will be returned to Harvard, a spokesman said Friday.
One of the paintings is a 1790 portrait of William Ponsonby, Second Earl of Bessborough, by John Singleton Copley. The portrait went missing from the private university's property in 1971.
The second painting is a portrait of John Thornton Kirkland, a 19th century Harvard president, by Gilbert Stuart. That was reported missing in 1968.
Both paintings were sold at an auction in Hudson last weekend, said Harvard University Art Museums spokesman Daron J. Manoogian. He said both buyers later contacted the university about their purchased item.
"They are being returned," said Manoogian. "We are, of course, very pleased and very relieved." Manoogian declined to answer questions about the value of the paintings, or provide further details on how the paintings were discovered.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)