Still life that never moved: mystery of missing Picasso painting solved | Pablo Picasso
Appropriate enough for a still life, a small Picasso painting that disappeared on its way from Madrid to Granada for an exhibition earlier this month appears to have triggered a police investigation.
Officers from the Policía Nacional in Spain began searching for gouache and charcoal works Naturaleza muerta con guitarra (Still Life (With Guitar)) failed to reach a minibus carrying exhibitions borrowed from the capital to the CajaGranada foundation on October 3.
Three weeks later, the missing painting, worth €600,000 (£525,000), was recovered after it was reportedly taken by a neighbor after the crew of the van left it behind.
Sources close to the investigation He told Spain’s Efe news agency He said the painting “never left the building where it was sent to be exhibited in Granada.”
According to sources, the shipping company left the package at the door of a building in Madrid. It was later picked up by a neighbor who thought it was someone’s forgotten delivery and was handed over for safekeeping. Days later, when her husband said Picasso was missing, she checked the package and called the police.
The painting, painted by the Spanish painter in 1919, would have been one of the stars of the foundation if it had reached its destination. Still Life: The Infinity of Stillness exhibition. But it never happened.
The foundation said that although some works were carefully packaged, they were not numbered correctly, making a “comprehensive check” impossible. Nevertheless, delivery was signed and the van and its crew continued on their way.
The following Monday, the parts that had been under video surveillance all weekend were opened.
In its statement, the foundation said, “After the packaging was opened by the CajaGranada foundation’s own staff, the works were moved to different parts of the exhibition hall.” he said.
“Early in the morning that day, the curator of the exhibition and the head of the foundation’s exhibition noticed that a work was missing. This piece was a small gouache by Pablo Picasso called Still Life with Guitar.”
The foundation reported the matter to Policía Nacional, which began investigating. A week of speculation about the fate of the painting ended on Friday when police announced that the work had been recovered.
“He may never have succeeded in the van,” Policía Nacional said in a brief statement. “The Historical Heritage Unit is keeping the investigation open and the scientific police have opened the package containing the painting and are examining it.”
The Guardian understands that despite the highly publicized disruption, the trust is still willing to take delivery of Still Life with Guitar so it can be exhibited as planned.
Picasso’s fame and the enormous sums of money for his works have long made his art the target of thieves around the world.
In February 2007, two Picasso paintings worth 50 million euros were stolen from the Paris home of the artist’s grandson. Two years later, a Picasso sketchbook worth more than €8 million was stolen from a museum dedicated to the artist in Paris.
Twelve Picasso paintings, worth approximately £9 million, were stolen from the French Riviera villa of one of his grandchildren, Marina Picasso, in 1989.
Several more Picasso paintings were stolen from galleries. In 1976, more than 110 works were stolen from a museum in the southern city of Avignon in one of France’s biggest art thefts.
