Picasso's Paintings Worth $66 Million, Stolen In Paris

Prada's Meadow

Prada's Meadow

Member
Jan 23, 2006
15,831
24
#1

AFP/File Photo: Former Miss Universe Irene Saez admires Picasso's "Portrait of Jacqueline" in 1998. Two Picasso paintings..

By JEAN-PIERRE VERGES, Associated Press

PARIS - At least two Picasso paintings, worth a total of nearly $66 million, were stolen from the artist's granddaughter's house in Paris, police said Wednesday.

The paintings, "Maya and the Doll" and "Portrait of Jacqueline," disappeared overnight Monday to Tuesday from the chic 7th arrondissement, or district, a Paris police official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said they were worth nearly $66 million.
The director of the Picasso Museum, Anne Baldassari, said several paintings and drawings were stolen from the home of Diana Widmaier-Picasso.
"It was a very large theft," Baldassari said, without giving details.
Police only confirmed the theft of the two paintings.

"Maya and the Doll" portrays Maya Widmaier, the artist's daughter and Widmaier-Picasso's mother.
No other details were immediately available.
.
 
#7
This is Maya with Doll:
34801656.jpg






Whoever stole them should be ashamed of themselves! What if those works get destroyed or damaged somehow?

Those are priceless masterpieces!
 
#9
Remember how they stole Munch's The Scream, two versions if I rememer correctly? The problem is alot of art isn't adequately protected given its value - here it was a private collection. Its so sad. I love art and hate to think about it being damaged/destroyed.
 
#10
^ I don't think anyone will damage it - these are all tied up in private collections now - I guess someone is sitting in their safe/basement enjoying them as we speak
 
#11
Sounds like a "Thomas Crown Affair" situation. Obviously, it won't be on the public market, but you'd think the risk of owning something looted would scare most buyers off. Of course, these crimes wouldn't necessarily exist unless there was someone out there willing to pay if it was stolen for sale.
 
#12
I read that and what pissed me off the most about it was that they cut the painting out of the frame to remove it. NOt only did the steal it but they defaced it. Awful!
 
#13

Picasso works stolen from granddaughter

By JEAN-PIERRE VERGES, Associated Press Writer Wed Feb 28, 2:10 PM ET


PARIS - At least two Picasso paintings worth a total of nearly $66 million were stolen from the house of the artist's granddaughter in Paris, police said Wednesday.
The paintings, "Maya and the Doll" and "Portrait of Jacqueline," disappeared overnight Monday to Tuesday from the chic 7th arrondissement, or district, a Paris police official said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said they were worth nearly $66 million, and that there were signs of breaking and entering in the house.
The Art Loss Register, which maintains the world's largest database on stolen, missing and looted art, lists 549 missing Picasso pieces, including paintings, lithographs, drawings and ceramics.
The number of missing Picassos is so high simply because Picasso was so prolific, said Antonia Kimbell, a staff member with the register. She said the Paris theft was "definitely quite significant."
Although police only mentioned the two paintings, the director of the Picasso Museum, Anne Baldassari, said several paintings and drawings were stolen from the home of Diana Widmaier-Picasso, an art historian and author of a book called "Art Can Only be Erotic."
"It was a very large theft," she said, without giving details.
"Maya and the Doll" is a colorful portrait Widmaier-Picasso's mother as a young blond girl in pigtails, eyes askew in a Cubist perspective. Maya is the daughter of Picasso and Marie-Therese Walter, his companion from 1924-44.
"Portrait of Jacqueline" depicts Picasso's last wife.
Among recent missing Picassos is an abstract watercolor stolen in Mexico, Kimbell said.
Major stolen pieces usually sell for a pittance, if at all, on the black market because potential buyers are afraid to touch them.
"It's unlikely a legitimate dealer would purchase or acquire any of these pieces," Kimbell said.
 
#14
This is the equivilent of grave robbery. Those paintings were the last things of hers made by her grandfather, and somebody not only stole them but defaced them!



(I remember when the Taliban was still in power in Afghanistan and there was a question on what to do with these two huge statues of Buddha carved in the side of a mountain. The Taliban didn't want them there because the statues were 'idolatrous and anti-Muslim.' Many, many museums offered them money so they could take them. The Taliban wound up blowing them up and my mother was so upset when she heard that. At the time, I didn't understand why and now I do.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back