BALTIMORE From the moment it was created in 1879, a tiny landscape of the River Seine by Pierre-Auguste Renoir has been characterized by a tangled weave of embellishments, layers and knots.

When the Impressionist master sat down to dash off a quick oil sketch of the river, he picked up not the usual piece of canvas, but museum experts confirmed last week a linen napkin from his mistress that had an elaborate geometric pattern in which threads twist above, below and around one another.

Our textile curator, Anita Jones, spent a lot of time looking at the painting under a high-powered microscope, Katy Rothkopf, the Baltimore Museum of Arts senior curator of European painting and sculpture, said at the preview of a new exhibit, The Renoir Returns, which opens Sunday.

The fabric is a type of linen damask that in the late 19th century was used for table linens, Rothkopf said. It was unusual for painters to use this type of fabric, but it turned out to be a good choice. Linen increases in strength when wet and is smoother than wool or cotton.

But as elaborate as the fabrics geometric structure is, its virtually a model of simplicity when compared to the 135-year-old artworks past.

The FBI said Thursday that the investigation into the theft of Paysage Bord du Seine (On the Shore of the Seine) from the museum in 1951 has been closed. After interviewing dozens of witnesses over nearly 18 months, there wasnt sufficient evidence to arrest anyone either for stealing the artwork or for intentionally possessing stolen property, Special Agent Gregg Horner said.

Crowds expected

The 5-by-9 inch paintings story is expected to draw throngs of visitors to the museum this weekend when the Renoir goes on display for the first time in more than six decades, as part of an exhibition drawn from the collection of the paintings donor, Baltimore heiress and philanthropist Saidie May, who bought the artwork from a Paris gallery in 1925 and later bequeathed it to the museum.

The twice-divorced May was a free spirit, an amateur artist and a cousin of the art collectors Etta and Claribel Cone. (Two paintings by May also are on display in the exhibit, which also includes works by Piet Mondrian, Jackson Pollock and Paul Klee.) It was May who put up the money that enabled the artists Marc Chagall and Andr Masson to flee from Nazi-occupied France during World War II and to escape to America with their families.

More recently, the Renoir was in the possession of a Virginia driving instructor named Marcia Martha Fuqua. She made headlines worldwide in September 2012 when she said shed bought a Renoir painting at the Harpers Ferry Flea Market as part of a box of odds and ends costing $7 without knowing the artworks true value.

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Flea-market Renoir returns to museum after mysterious disappearance

SAN JOSE -- A three-day sting this week targeting unlicensed home-improvement contractors netted 19 suspects in the South Bay and 121 throughout the state, according to state licensing officials.

Investigators with the Contractors State License Board looked for offenders advertising on fliers, in phone directories, online, on posted business cards and "penny saver" periodicals, said spokeswoman Melanie Bedwell.

Often, it was as simple as finding an ad that doesn't include the contractor's license number.

"If they're not licensed they may not know that's required by law," Bedwell said.

The 19 suspects from the South Bay plied trades such as painting, drywall, concrete work, fencing, landscaping and tree trimming. All were given a notice to appear in court for contracting without a license, and nearly all for illegal advertising.

Most of the suspects hailed from San Jose, with exceptions being from Campbell, Saratoga, San Carlos, East Palo Alto and Newark. Other sting areas ranged from Yolo County in the north to San Diego County in the south.

By law, a license is not required if the job is valued at less than $500, but Bedwell said oftentimes that is exploited.

"What they end up doing is going over to fix a sprinkler for $50, but they say 'Oh I can also do this, and I can do that' and it adds up," she said. "You have to look at the comprehensive job. It's federal law that you can't break those things up."

The penalty for contracting without a license is up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. For false advertising, it's a fine of $700 to $1,000.

For the sting, investigators posed as homeowners seeking bids for various home improvement projects.

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Contractor sting nets 19 in the South Bay

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A stolen painting by Renoir is now back at the Baltimore Museum of Art after more than 60 years. (WJZ Video)

From the moment it was created in 1879, a tiny landscape of the River Seine by Pierre-Auguste Renoir has been characterized by a tangled weave of embellishments, layers and knots.

When the Impressionist master sat down to dash off a quick oil sketch of the River Seine, he picked up not the usual piece of canvas, but museum experts confirmed Thursday a linen napkin with an elaborate geometric pattern in which threads twist above, below and around one another.

"Our textile curator, Anita Jones, spent a lot of time looking at the painting under a high-powered microscope," Katy Rothkopf, the museum's senior curator of European painting and sculpture, told reporters gathered for the press preview of a new exhibit, "The Renoir Returns," which opens Sunday.

"The fabric is a type of linen damask that in the late 19th century was used for table linens," Rothkopf said. "It was unusual for painters to use this type of fabric, but it turned out to be a good choice. Linen increases in strength when wet and is smoother than wool or cotton."

But as elaborate as the fabric's geometric structure is, it's virtually a model of simplicity when compared to the 135-year-old artwork's past.

The FBI announced on Thursday that the investigation into the theft of "Paysage Bord du Seine" from the museum in 1951 has been closed. After interviewing dozens of witnesses over nearly 18 months, there isn't sufficient evidence to arrest anyone either for stealing the artwork or for intentionally possessing stolen property, Special Agent Gregg Horner said.

"A lot of people are disappointed when these investigations end without a prosecution," Horner said in an interview at the FBI's Baltimore branch. "But, sometimes that's the nature of these cases. The woman who was in possession of the painting wasn't even born then, so she obviously didn't steal it. And, we had no indication that she knew that it was stolen property."

It all makes for an irresistibly romantic story expected to draw throngs of visitors to the museum this weekend when the Renoir goes on display for the first time in more than six decades, as part of an exhibition drawn from the collection of the painting's donor, the Baltimore heiress and philanthropist Saidie May.

Part of the painting's allure is that it has consistently passed through the hands of women with vivid personalities. They include May, who bought that water view from a Paris gallery in 1925 and later bequeathed it to the museum.

Link:
FBI closes investigation into theft of 'flea-market' Renoir | VIDEO

Map showing wages for this occupation. Watch while it cycles or toggle to select one.

Most carpet-layers in Peoria make $10.27 an hour or less, but the government requires federal contractors to pay at least $22.23 an hour for the same work in the Illinois city.

In Troy, Mich., most painters make $13.05 an hour or less, yet every painting company doing business with the federal government must pay its painters at least $26.60.

Across the country, employees of companies with federal contracts make up to twice what others doing the same work in the region make, dramatically increasing the costs to taxpayers, a Washington Examiner analysis found.

Under the Service Contract Act of 1965, contractors are paid a minimum wage determined to be prevailing in the area by the Labor Department.

But those prevailing wages are often far off the mark, according to the analysis, which compared every SCA "district" with far more authoritative figures compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The law directs the government to keep hourly rates in line with the regional typical rate to ensure the governments buying power doesnt drive down average wages.

But instead, it often has the opposite effect, creating two tiers of workers with comparable skills: Those making the free-market rate and those who are far better compensated and whose salary comes indirectly from Uncle Sam.

Washington-based bureaucrats rely on professional judgment when calculating wage rates, as the Government Accountability Office put it, to assemble what the Examiner found were more than 132,000 different regularly updated dollar figures, decreeing what workers should make in each of 339 occupations across 390 regions.

The bureaucrats use BLS rates as one metric, but then adjust them for various factors, even as they make assumptions to fill in information gaps.

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EXography: Federal workers make up to twice as much others doing same job

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(photo Jacqueline Ramseyer/Bay Area News Group/March 25, 2014) Artist Morgan Bricca talks to passersby after putting the finishing touches on the second of three murals outside the Goodwill building in downtown Sunnyvale.

Waves, smiles, honks and even a serenade by a guitarist all helped encourage muralist Morgan Bricca, who stood atop a 15-foot scaffolding in front of the downtown Goodwill store this month delicately painting the history of Sunnyvale.

From its agricultural days to the innovations of NASA Ames and Lockheed Martin, Sunnyvale's story is being captured and displayed in three 30-foot-long murals in the middle of downtown.

The Sunnyvale Goodwill at E. Washington and S. Sunnyvale avenues had the opportunity to completely change its look, with Goodwill stores being renovated throughout Silicon Valley.

Giant faded blue awnings are now gone and instead of a rather colorless faade, the building now pops with warm hues of tan and a rusty orange. And with the help of Bricca, three vibrant murals help transport downtown patrons back in time to the Sunnyvale of yesterday.

Contractors hired by Goodwill reached out to Bricca and the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum to help design and execute the murals.

Bricca, who has been painting murals for 14 years and averages 30 a year, said the project is one of her largest undertakings, one filled with unique challenges such as getting detail to come through the course stucco of the building.

Since last summer, Bricca and the contractors worked with museum volunteer Johan Koning on the design and dug through file cabinets upon file cabinets of photos for inspiration.

Three separate panels on the building feature three separate eras in Sunnyvale. The first, at the front of the building, represents early Sunnyvale with farmers watering their fields via a horse-drawn water wagon next to blossoming cherry trees.

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New murals downtown trace Sunnyvale's history

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