Ex-UCLA Official Goes on Trial in Theft of Painting

The former head of student counseling services at UCLA went on trial in federal court Tuesday on charges of stealing a 19th century painting that hung in her office at Murphy Hall, the campus administration building, and selling it to a New York art gallery for $200,000.

In his opening statement to jurors, Jane Crawford’s defense lawyer said there is no proof that the university actually owns the landscape titled “Frost Flowers” by artist Arthur Wesley Dow.

The prosecution says that the painting was donated by Dow’s widow in 1928 to an association affiliated with UCLA’s art department, and that it became the university’s property when the association was dissolved. Crawford also contends that the painting was given to her as a gift by a UCLA colleague, Craig Cunningham, who kept it at his home for nearly 10 years.

On the witness stand Tuesday, Cunningham denied giving it to her to keep. He said he expressed alarm when she told him she was considering selling the work.