Police Continue Art Theft Investigation

Police officials are still investigating a robbery of six oil paintings worth a total of $380,000 from President Bok's house one year ago today.

Harvard and Cambridge police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been investigating the robbery for a year but are apparently not yet close to making an arrest.

No Hot Leads

Lieutenant Lawrence Murphy, head of the Cambridge Police Investigation Unit, said yesterday although the police have no "hot" leads at the moment, they "have not given up hope" of recovering the paintings.

Joseph Yablonsky, an FBI spokesman, said yesterday, "Certain sources and investigation avenues are still open," but he said the bureau has no leads either.

Both authorities are working closely with the International Foundation for Art Research in New York, Bonnie Burnham, a spokesman for the foundation, said yesterday.

The Foundation studies and publicizes documentation of art thefts so that if any stolen paintings appear on the international market, they can be reported immediately," she said.

Five of the six stolen paintings, including works by 19th century Impressionist Eugene Boudin, 17th century painter Gerrit Berckhyde and American landscape artists Twachtman and Gifford, were on loan from Harvard's Fogg Art Museum.

The sixth painting, a 20th century Paris street scene by an artist with the pseudonym Arcambo, was part of Bok's personal art collection. All the paintings were stolen from Bok's home at 33 Elmwood Drive in Cambridge.

Seymour Slive, director of the Fogg, said yesterday that he is still hopeful that the paintings will be recovered.

The Fogg paintings, valued at $370,999, were not insured by an outside firm but Slive said at the time of the theft that the University has a special "self-insurance" fund, although he declined to specify exactly what the terms of that arrangement were.