The work of major artists have been making news lately, including Monet and Van Gogh as well as Keith Haring. The recovery of art has also been buzzing thanks to police using AI to identify a painting stolen from a church 20 years ago and “wanted” posters leading to the discovery of missing 17th-century piece.
Now, prints by Pablo Picasso, which were stolen from a restaurant, have been found after they were seemingly casually hidden in an apartment not far from where they were taken.
7 People Have Been Arrested for the Art Theft
“Six stolen prints by Pablo Picasso have been safely recovered from an apartment in the French Riviera, where, according to investigators, the works were stowed beneath a pile of clothes and toolboxes, not too far from the restaurant from which they were pilfered,” ARTnews reported on Thursday, Nov. 5.
The pieces that La Libre states are worth around $112,000, were taken around a month before they were found from L’Amandier, a restaurant in Mougins, which is a village where Picasso was living when he passed away in 1973.
“At around 2 a.m. on October 1, two men, both wearing gloves and masks, entered the restaurant through a door and stole the prints in under a minute,” ARTnews explains. “In the morning, the restaurant’s owner, Matthieu Autant, discovered the works were missing and proceeded alert local authorities, which assigned the task of retrieving the stolen art to officers in nearby Cannes.”
On November 3, two apartments were search by authorities and the pieces were located, per Le Monde. Seven men between the ages of 18 and 30, “three burglars and four accomplices,” were all arrested.
Lieutenant colonel Guillaume Plaidy spoke to Le Monde, saying, “We had to act quickly: Works like these carry a high risk of being resold and never returning to the art market.”
However, Plaidy also stated that the pieces “were not easy works to sell,” in part, because the men responsible for the theft had no idea how to offload them and no connections to potential buyers, adding that they are instead “known more for drug and weapons offenses.”
Picasso Has Had More Pieces Stolen Than Any Other Artist
When it comes to artists who have had the most art stolen, “Picasso comes out as the clear leader, by a long shot,” Artlyst reported back in 2012.
At the time, the top 10 list of artists works stolen included:
- Pablo Picasso – 1,147
- Nick Lawrence – 557
- Marc Chagall – 516
- Karel Appel – 505
- Salvador Dali – 505
- Joan Miro – 478
- David Levine – 343
- Andy Warhol – 343
- Rembrandt – 337
- Peter Reinicke – 336
When it comes to Picasso pieces that have been stolen over the years, “Le Pigeon aux petits pois (The Pigeon with Green Peas)” was taken in 2010 along with four other paintings and is still missing.
“Maya and the Doll” was stolen from the home of Picasso’s granddaughter in 2007, but has since been recovered, as has “Portrait of Jacqueline” and “Buste de Femme (Dora Maar).” Beyond that, “La Coiffeuse (The Hairdresser)” was recovered after being stolen, as was “Head of a Woman (Woman’s Head),” “Seated Woman (The Sitting Woman),” and “El Cristo de Montmartre.”
Other pieces that have been reported stolen but are still missing (or presumed destroyed) include “Tête d’Arlequin (Head of Harlequin),” “Tête de Cheval (Head of a Horse),” “Verre et Pichet (Glass and Pitcher),” “Minotaur, Drinking Fountain and Women,” and “The Painter and His Model.” The same goes for “The Spring,” “The Painter,” “Woman With Black Eyes (Dora Maar),” “Woman With Blue Collar,” and “Dragonfly.”
Stolen Picasso Art Found Under Pile of Clothes — 7 Clueless Men Arrested