LOS ANGELES: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation said on March 2 it has found a Norman Rockwell painting, ‘Russian Schoolroom’, which was stolen in 1973, in the home of film director Steven Spielberg.

But the director is not a suspect. The painting was stolen from a Norman Rockwell exhibit in Clayton, Missouri, and did not surface until 1988, when it was sold at auction in New Orlea-ns, the FBI said. In 2004, FBI determined the pai-nting had been advertised for sale at a Norman Rockwell exhibit in New York in 1989.

While they followed leads, Spielberg’s staff saw an FBI theft notice and realised the painting, which in the meantime had found its way into the film director’s collection, had been stolen. Spielberg’s staff brought the painting’s current location to FBI’s attention, officials said.

Spielberg purchased it in 1989 from a legitimate dealer and did not become aware it was a stolen work of art until last week. “Mr Spielberg is cooperating fully with the FBI and will retain possession of ‘the Russian Schoolroom’ until its disposition can be determined,” an FBI statement said.