The 48-page notebook with 1920s sketches by the "American Gothic" artist was likely taken during an open house at the Davenport Museum of Art (now part of the collections of the Figge Art Museum). The book had been acquired by New York's Kennedy Galleries in 1966 and then surfaced at a Leslie Hindman auction in 2013. It was withdrawn from auction, but the museum has not stated if it paid for the book.

The Figge owns a Grant Wood Archive and will digitize the returned sketchbook.