Now, Where’s the Lettuce? : Painter Owes $25,000 Reward He Offered for Stolen Hamburger Art

Downtown loft artist Robert Reynolds had a real beef with the thief who stole the oil painting he put on display last fall at a Los Angeles bar.

The artwork was a depiction of a 17th-Century Madonna figure praying over cheeseburgers. It was to have been the centerpiece for a series of paintings by the 51-year-old artist in which hamburgers represent modern-day religious icons.

So it was an angry Reynolds who offered a $25,000 reward for the return of the 36-by-40-inch canvas titled “MacMadonna”--and for the arrest and conviction of its thief.

Last week, a tipster helped police recover the painting and arrest a suspect. And now the fat is in the fire for the hamburger artist.

Reynolds suddenly has to figure out a way to pay the reward--a whopper by burger-painting standards.

“Frankly, I never expected to see the painting again,” Reynolds admits.

He borrowed money from his sister this week to pay a $750 first installment to the tipster. He hopes to pay off the remainder in $250 increments.

But Reynolds can’t sell his hamburger series to raise cash because authorities are holding on to the MacMadonna--with an estimated value of $4,000--as evidence in the case.

The 31-year-old suspect, Brian Walsh Linder of West Los Angeles, is scheduled to appear May 5 in Los Angeles Municipal Court to answer to a grand theft charge.

Joked Reynolds: “I may have to go to court and testify on his behalf.”

Reynolds’ troubles began Nov. 1 when the painting disappeared from the wall at Al’s Bar, a Hewitt Street hangout popular with loft district residents. Nobody at the bar remembered seeing who swiped the painting, so Reynolds placed an ad in an art publication offering a $500 reward.

When that didn’t work, he upped it to $25,000.

The case was cracked by another loft artist, photographer and painter Laura Domela. She was visiting a Los Angeles club several months ago with friends when she allegedly overheard Linder, a general contractor, brag about possession of “a funny” Madonna-and-burgers painting.

When she mentioned an upcoming rooftop barbecue at her loft, Linder gave his name and phone number in hopes of being invited, said Domela, 26. She misplaced the slip of paper it was written it on until about two weeks ago, she said.

Domela said she plans to use the reward money to pay off bills.

Detective Bill Martin, a stolen-painting specialist who helped grill the burger-art theft suspect, said rewards are seldom a factor in solving the 150 or so painting heists that Los Angeles police handle a year.

“Obviously you shouldn’t put up a reward that is more than a painting is worth,” Martin said.

That’s good advice, said Reynolds.

“The $25,000 figure just popped into my head,” he said.

“Since then I’ve seen murder case rewards that are $250 or so. Next time I won’t go crazy with the reward.”