BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A federal grand jury has indicted Terrace Park art dealer and consultant David Bowen, alleging that he pocketed $25,300 from the sale of eight paintings from the Cincinnati Public Schools' (CPS) extensive art collection.
Mr. Bowen was supposed to help the schools by getting the best price for older, less important pieces in the collection, which was built over the years primarily with students' spare change. Instead, according to federal grand jurors, Mr. Bowen lied about the sale price and kept the difference
Mr. Bowen was indicted late Wednesday on two counts each of theft and mail fraud. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 12 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
Mr. Bowen, 57, who works from his Princeton Drive home, could not be reached for comment.
He will receive a summons to appear July 10 when a federal judge will free him on bond unless prosecutors prove he is likely to flee or endanger himself or the community.
"Nobody else was involved and the investigation's over," said John DiPuccio, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting Mr. Bowen. The alleged thefts are federal crimes because the district receives federal aid.
School board President Arthur Hull declined to comment, saying only: "It's one less thing to be hanging over our heads, but it's not over till it's over."
School board member Virginia Griffin, a former art gallery owner who has crusaded to preserve the collection, referred comment to district counsel John Concannon.
"We're pleased that the investigation's over, although we're obviously disappointed that someone's been accused of taking money from us," Mr. Concannon said. "If he is found guilty, we would hope that the judge would order restitution."
In 1994, the art advisory committee recommended selling or trading some of the district's pieces deemed overrepresentative of some artists, poor examples of their work, in bad condition or outside the collection's scope.
The sales made by Mr. Bowen were among 18 authorized because they weren't significant works. Officials agreed to use the proceeds to display and preserve more important paintings from the district's collection.
Mr. Bowen eventually sold eight paintings to various buyers for $5,700. As a volunteer member of the advisory committee, he wasn't supposed to be paid for handling the district's artwork sales.
The investigation originated with a 1994 phone call to then-school board President John Muething. The caller, familiar with the district's art collection, spotted a former collection piece, "Low Tide at St. Ives" by Dixie Selden, at a private residence.
Mr. Bowen sold it for the district for $1,800 in 1994; it resold soon after for about $10,000.
In an interview last year with The Cincinnati Enquirer, Mr. Bowen declined to discuss the investigation but said he got the best prices he could for the works in 1994 and 1995.
If a painting fetched a higher price later, that's because the buyer decided that's what the art was worth, he added. "The art market ebbs and flows, just like the stock market or the economy," he said. "It's not always constant, and it doesn't increase 10 percent a year."
The indictment also alleges Mr. Bowen pocketed money from the sales of "Marblehead Harbor" by John Rettig; "Pickles" by Herman Wessel; "Washday in Mexico," by Paul Ashbrook, "On the Homeward Trail" and "Under the Wild Struble" by Matt Daly; "The Old Mill" by Thomas C. Lindsey; and "Beaches in Autumn," by Charles Muerer.
Ninety pieces constitute the district's Museum Collection, which focuses on the works of Cincinnati artists from the early 19th to mid-20th century. It is appraised at more than $1 million. In 1991, it was moved from school offices to the Museum Center at Union Terminal.
The core of the CPS collection was built at the turn of the century. It has grown to about 1,000 pieces, most still in schools.
Mr. Bowen organized the Great American Art Show, a fund-raiser for the Museum Center at Union Terminal in 1996 and 1997. Ben L. Kaufman contributed to this story.
