Word: roux
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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When he died on the French Riviera in 1955, genial Paul Roux had no bank account and less than $100 in cash, but he was still able to leave behind a fortune. "This bouquet, this Colombe d'Or," he wrote to his son Francis, "I leave to you." The Golden Dove was his hotel-restaurant in tiny Saint-Paul-de-Vence-a restaurant like no other in the world...
From his earliest days as the patron in the 1920s, Roux had found himself fascinated by the customers he got. They were an impassioned, talkative lot who came all the way from Paris to paint in the warm sunshine of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Soutine took a room at the Golden Dove, and so did Braque, Bonnard, Léger and Utrillo. There was no end to the procession of great names who ate there. The artists seemed to like Roux, for they showered him with paintings, either as gifts or for a modest prix...
...Been Robbed!" Like his father, Francis Roux did not believe in insurance, though sometimes as a precaution he would take some of his most treasured paintings up to bed with him at night. But one night a few weeks ago, he did not even bother to do that. Sure enough, when he came down next morning, the walls of his dining room were bare. "We've been robbed!" he screamed, as his wife and mother burst into tears. Gone were three Braques, three Légers, a Picasso, Modigliani, Buffet, Dufy, Miró, Matisse, Bonnard, Utrillo, Valadon, Laurencin, Derain...
...police seemed to be more confused than ever. Gaby Rouze told of having had dealings with "two women" who tried to buy the paintings with counterfeit bills. Later the police were sent off on a wild-goose chase to a supposed cache in a deserted grange in Antibes. Francis Roux has received three ransom notes demanding $8,000, $12,000 and finally, $16,000. Last week the police arrested a sixth suspect, who they think may have had the paintings for a while and then passed them on. But to whom? The suspect merely shrugged...
Though the stolen paintings are valued at close to half a million dollars, Francis Roux still has his consolations: 4,000 other canvases that his father had only briefly hung. And his father's old friends are being more than sympathetic. Upon reading of the robbery, Bernard Buffet promptly sent Roux a painting of a ram's head to replace the Golden Dove's stolen fish...