Elayne and Russ Lindberg had moved to
St. Louis Park in 1950, where Russ worked as a painter and
decorator. Elayne had a master's degree in social sciences,
and after her children were grown she became an expert in
handwriting analysis. From 1966
to 1968 she worked as a store detective at Dayton’s, using
her skills to spot forged checks. In 1970 she worked as a
part time policewoman, apprehending shoplifters in an
unnamed department store. One report said that she was
responsible for locking up the leaders of six major
Minneapolis gangs. A Sun article explains that
she counseled her often young perps on their strong points
using handwriting analysis. She believed that there
was good in everyone.
She was often called in to
authenticate signatures on wills. She also worked for
Sheriffs’ offices and wrote the book The Power of
Positive Handwriting. She also did handwriting
analysis for a psychiatrist.
In the late 1960s, downtown was getting dangerous and there
were more professional shoplifters. After she had success
selling oil paintings she’d imported from Europe, Elayne
resigned from Dayton’s and opened up her own gallery. In the
course of his decorating business, Russ had already
accumulated some 200 oil paintings. Elayne Galleries was
launched in October 1971 in the
Wooddale Professional Building. The business took over
more and more space, until she moved to
6111 Excelsior Blvd. in 1977.
Sometime before 1am on February 16, 1978, Elayne Galleries was
struck by thieves who took off with 7 Norman Rockwells worth
$145,000 and a Renoir valued at $150,000. Many of the pieces
were on loan from Brown and Bigelow. They were insured. The
Art Crime Law dictated that the theft was in the
jurisdiction of the
FBI. Elayne bounced back with a Rockwell
show on February 14, 1979, displaying 232 works valued at
$500,000.
Ah, the internet: On December 13, 2001, three Norman
Rockwell paintings stolen in 1978 were recovered from a
Brazilian farmhouse owned by an art dealer. The three
paintings – "The Spirit of '76," "So Much Concern" and "A
Hasty Retreat" – were returned to their owner, Brown &
Bigelow Company, a Minneapolis calendar publisher. The
works, worth $700,000 to $1 million, were among seven stolen
in 1978 from the Elayne Galleries in St. Louis Park,
Minnesota ("National Briefing Midwest: Stolen Rockwell
Paintings Found," NY Times. 13 December 2001).
Thanks to Keith Meland for spotting this.
The Lindbergs were also professional magicians for 15
years, specializing in Houdini’s “escape from the trunk”
trick. Russ was also a musician and poet.
After Elayne passed away in 1994, the business was run by
their daughter Bonnie Lindberg until about 2003. Bonnie
remains an art appriaser.
This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.