Mystery as £520,000 mini Picasso painting vanishes on way to show
A small Picasso painting disappeared while being transported from Madrid to Granada, Spain.
Spanish police have launched an investigation into the disappearance of the painting ‘Still Life with Guitar’, which was planned to be exhibited at an exhibition in the south.
The oil on canvas painting was valued at 600,000 euros (£520,000) and was due to be exhibited at an event. According to the local Ideal newspaper, it is organized by the CajaGranada foundation, which opened last week.
However, the painting made by Pablo Picasso in 1919 could not achieve its purpose.
This artwork, like the other artworks in the exhibition, is privately owned. A collector in Madrid owned the painting and lent it for the exhibition.
A van carrying the paintings arrived in Grenada on Friday, October 3, but the foundation did not realize the artwork was missing until Monday.
The foundation said the delivery was unloaded and checked, but some carefully packaged works were not numbered, which prevented the contents from being thoroughly checked.
National police sources confirmed the painting’s disappearance was under investigation but did not provide further details, citing confidentiality rules.
Pablo Picasso’s tiny painting titled Still Life with Guitar, lost in Spain
Spanish media suggested that the van may have stopped near Granada overnight and that the two people inside may have taken turns protecting the occupants.
Thieves often targeted Picasso works because of their high value; Two of the artist’s paintings have been sold for more than $140 million at auction in recent years.
One of the most notorious thefts occurred in 1976, when more than 100 of the artist’s paintings were stolen from the Palais des Papes museum in Avignon, southern France.
Eventually, all of the works were rescued.
Pablo Picasso, who was born in Malaga in southern Spain in 1881 and died in 1973, is considered one of the most important artists of all time.
Throughout his long career he challenged conventional ideas and experimented with a wide variety of styles and themes.
