Picasso

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7154101.stm Picasso stolen from Brazil museum The paintings were highlights of the museum's collectionThieves in Brazil have stolen two paintings said to be worth $100m (£50m) in a dawn raid on Latin America's most renowned museum. Pablo Picasso's Portrait of Suzanne Bloch, and The Coffee Worker by Brazil's Candido Portinari, were taken from the Museum of Art of Sao Paulo. The theft lasted about three minutes and was caught on security cameras. A statement from museum officials said the institution had not suffered such a robbery in its 60-year history. Valuable pieces The theft, believed to have been carried out by three men, began at 0509 (0709 GMT) and finished at 0512, police said. The museum's security guards are thought to have been on another floor at the time. Portinari was an important Brazilian painter The thieves left behind some of their tools, and police have shut down the museum to search for clues, officials said. The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch, painted in 1904, is among the most valuable pieces in the museum's collection. The Coffee Worker (O Lavrador de Cafe) was painted in 1939 and is one of Portinari's most famous works. O Globo newspaper said that the museum's press service had estimated their joint worth at more than $100m. However, museum spokesman Eduardo Cosomano told the Associated Press news agency that it was difficult to judge their exact monetary value. A statement from museum said the two works were on display on the second floor but in different rooms. Museum officials said they were working with the local and federal police as well as Interpol and the Brazilian foreign ministry and that the building would remain closed while investigations are carried out. Thieves have targeted Brazil's museums before. In February 2006, a five-man gang stole works by Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Picasso and Claude Monet from a Rio de Janeiro museum. Two Picassos stolen in Brazil CCTV captures the thieves entering and leaving the museum Armed robbers in Sao Paulo in Brazil have stolen two Picasso engravings and two works by famous Brazilian artists. The men were seen on closed-circuit TV entering the Estacao Pinacoteca gallery in broad daylight, unmasked. A print from Picasso's The Painter and the Model series and Minotaur, Drinker and Women were taken. The stolen works were valued at $600,000 (£308,350). This is the second theft of work by Picasso in the centre of Sao Paulo in only six months. Two oil paintings by the Brazilian artists Emiliano Di Cavalcanti and Lasar Segall were also stolen. The museum says all the works are insured. Last year, Pablo Picasso's Portrait of Suzanne Bloch and The Coffee Worker by Brazil's Candido Portinari, were taken from the Museum of Art of Sao Paulo. The framed paintings were later recovered in perfect condition, leaning against a wall in a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7178298.stm Stolen Picasso found in Sao Paulo By Gary Duffy BBC News, Sao Paulo The retrieved pictures were under close guard as they went on showPolice in Brazil say they have recovered two paintings worth millions of dollars stolen last month from a museum in the centre of Sao Paulo. Two suspects were put under arrest over the theft of the works, by Pablo Picasso and the Brazilian artist Candido Portinari. The pictures were found undamaged leaning against a wall in a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. Officials at the Museum of Art will be greatly relieved by their recovery. The theft of the paintings was a major embarrassment for the museum. Shortly after they were stolen it emerged that the two paintings, along with some 8,000 other works of art in the gallery, were not insured. Although there had been fears that the paintings had already been smuggled abroad they were in fact recovered in a district in the eastern part of the Sao Paulo metropolitan area, and two suspects were arrested. The two paintings are said to be worth at least $55m (£28m; 37m euros). Police were led to the house where the discovery was made by a suspect who had been arrested. The paintings were found covered in plastic, leaning against a wall. 'Never again' The Sao Paulo Museum of Art has been closed since the theft, and an increased police presence has been maintained around the building ever since. A simple hydraulic jack was used to prise open the museum entrance The three thieves used only a crow bar and a hydraulic car jack to break into the museum and stole the paintings in a matter of minutes. The recovered works of art have been examined by officials to confirm their authenticity and are said be in perfect condition. Both paintings were closely guarded as they were displayed at a police news conference. They will be returned to the museum in time for its reopening on Friday. The authorities have promised that security at the landmark building has been improved to ensure this kind of theft never happens again. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7515875.stm Brazil police find stolen Picasso Picasso's work was some of the 20th Century's most famous Police in Brazil have recovered an engraving by Pablo Picasso that was stolen from a museum in Sao Paulo. The Painter and the Model was taken in a daylight robbery in June from the state-owned Estacao Pinacoteca museum. Police said an arrested suspect had led them to the engraving, wrapped in a plastic bag and hidden in an attic, apparently in perfect condition. Another Picasso and two paintings by Brazilian artists stolen in the same robbery have not yet been recovered. The man arrested was held on suspicion of trying to steal a cash machine, but instead led police to the stolen Picasso. "We were taken by surprise," Inspector Cesar Carlos Dias told the Associated Press. "We were keeping an eye on [the suspect] and two other men because we had information they were planning to steal automatic teller machines and rob banks. "In a tapped phone conversation, the Picasso print was mentioned." The man, a 30-year-old Sao Paulo resident, was arrested on charges of robbery, police said. The two Picasso engravings and the other works stolen in June have a combined estimated value of 1 million Brazilian reals (US$630,000), museum officials have said. Sao Paulo has a history of art thefts: a painting by Picasso was among two works stolen from the city's Museum of Art that were recovered in January.