Theft in the art market has been in the news lately, following a notorious heist. Louvre Museum But Spanish police appear to have solved a case that has puzzled detectives for weeks.
Earlier this month, a Picasso painting that was scheduled to be transported to Granada for an exhibition at the Caja Granada Cultural Center was reported missing from a warehouse in Madrid.
The small framed gouache “Still Life with Guitar” from 1919 was part of 56 other works that were scheduled to be exhibited after leaving a warehouse in the capital on September 25th. The transportation process was captured on surveillance cameras.
The entire shipment was delivered in just over a week, but detectives now say the packaging was not properly numbered, making it impossible to conduct a thorough inspection without opening it.
The Caja Granada Foundation explained that specific inspections have been carried out, the invoice has been signed and full unpacking is pending until October 6, the scheduled date of the inauguration ceremony. It was on that very day that it was discovered that Picasso’s work was missing. A complaint was then filed with the National Police on October 10.
packaging issues
National police launched a massive search and placed an alert about the painting in Interpol’s international database of stolen or lost art. This database contains descriptions and images of over 57,000 items.
Although the search turned up no significant clues, investigators tasked with examining the delivery package found a discrepancy between the number on the package returned to Madrid and the missing work.
Forensic police officers inspected the warehouse and eventually confirmed it was a “still life with a guitar.” Police’s main hypothesis at the moment is that the painting, worth 600,000 euros, may not have been able to make it onto the transport truck from which it was taken.