Granite Falls couple held in theft of fine art

It’s unlikely that Jerry Hugh Christy and his wife, Georgia, were patrons of the fine arts.

Still, they had their eyes on Rembrandt, Picasso, Renoir and a catalog of famous Northwest artists, FBI officials said.

The Granite Falls couple, arrested at the their home Tuesday, allegedly worked with a disgraced former Seattle art dealer to break into homes, steal valuable artwork and then sell it across state lines.

The couple, both around 50, made initial appearances Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Kurt Lidtke, in his mid-40s, was arrested in Bozeman, Mont., and went before a judge there, officials said.

The Montana man once ran the Kurt Lidtke Galleries in Seattle. That was before he was convicted in 2007 of nine counts of first-degree theft.

He was successfully sued by people who owned the art Lidtke was selling on consignment, according to court papers. The owners claimed Lidtke sold the works but didn’t reimburse them.

Lidtke served time at the Monroe Correctional Complex, where he shared a cell with Jerry Christy, according to a 13-page complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

The Granite Falls couple and Lidtke were arrested Tuesday after they were caught dealing stolen artwork to an undercover FBI agent, federal officials said.

Agents said Lidtke claimed he had access to a supermarket of art due to connections he made while in prison.

“They locked me up with a bunch of criminals. And, and, I can say, ‘Hey, go get that painting for me,’ you know, and they do. Crazy, it’s crazy,” Lidtke reportedly told the undercover agent.

Lidtke said he could steer Jerry Christy “in the direction we need to go,” an apparent reference to directing Christy to burglarize homes that contained prized pieces of art.

Jerry Christy allegedly had staked out a Seattle home as recently as April 30. Officials feared he was planning a heist of works by the French Impressionist Pierre-August Renoir, the Russian painter Marc Chagall and works by Mark Tobey, a member of the famous Northwest School.

An FBI agent with the Art Crime Team in New York in 2007 recovered a painting that was stolen from a Spokane-area home. The agent traced the stolen painting back to a dealer in Omak who identified Jerry Christy as the seller.

Later that year, Christy was linked up with an undercover agent in Oregon who posed as an art buyer.

From there the criminal complaint outlines a series of sales reportedly involving the Christys and Lidtke and a vast collection of art masterpieces.

In January 2008, Georgia Christy allegedly delivered a stolen etching by the Dutch master Rembrandt, with an insurance replacement value of $20,000. The etching, one of Rembrandt’s renditions of “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” was stolen from a Sammamish home in November 2007, agents said.

Earlier this year, Lidtke allegedly made arrangements to sell several pieces stolen from a Seattle home on Nov. 5, 2009.

The stolen works, valued around $190,000, included paintings by Morris Graves and Tobey, both influential painters who were part of the group known as the Northwest Mystics.

Works by both artists are valuable and collectible, said Greg Kucera, an Everett native who runs the Greg Kucera Galley in Seattle.

“Most major museums in the country have works by either or both of these artists,” Kucera said.

Lidtke told the undercover buyer that he had access to more art, including pieces by the Cubist Pablo Picasso.

“It’s not for sale. I mean I’m going to have to go get it … If you know what I mean,” Lidtke said.

On April 14, Lidtke sent the undercover agent a text message saying he could guarantee a new collection for sale. The private collection was housed in a Lake Washington mansion, Lidtke said. Lidtke reportedly told the agent he had a man watching the home.

Seattle police officers on April 30 found Jerry Christy allegedly casing a home that contained several of the prized artworks Lidtke was offering. Christy gave police a false name, prosecutors said.

Lidtke called the undercover agent after learning police had intercepted Christy.

“They must have seen his car there before or something,” Lidtke said. “That’s a total disappointment but there’s definitely so much out there.” Lidtke said his man would go out that night to “look at some other stuff.”

Agents on Tuesday served search warrants in Bozeman and Granite Falls.

It’s likely more artwork will be recovered, FBI Special Agent Fred Gutt said.

Judges ordered all three defendants held pending detention hearings.

Associated Press Reporter Gene Johnson contributed to this report.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.