Picasso Painting Recovered in Spain, Investigation Suggests It May Never Have Been Shipped
GRANADA, Spain - A Pablo Picasso painting reported missing earlier this month has been recovered by Spanish police, authorities announced Friday. “Still Life with Guitar,” a 1919 gouache and pencil work valued at approximately €600,000 ($700,000), disappeared while being transported from Madrid to Granada for an exhibition at the CajaGranada Foundation.
The artwork, owned by a private collector in Madrid, was due to be featured in an exhibition that opened October 9th and is scheduled to run until January 11th. When the transport truck’s contents were unpacked on October 6th, the curator discovered the painting was absent.
The CajaGranada Foundation stated that all items delivered by the truck were under video surveillance from three days prior. While police have not disclosed the location were the painting was found, a National Police statement indicated, “Initial investigations suggest that the painting may not have been loaded onto the transport truck.” images released by police show forensic experts examining the recovered artwork.
The foundation has expressed optimism that “Still Life with guitar” will still be included in the exhibition. Picasso’s works are frequent targets for theft due to their notable value; two of his paintings recently sold for over $140 million at auction. A similar incident occurred in 1976 when over 100 Picasso works were stolen from the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France, but were later recovered.
Pablo Picasso, born in Malaga in 1881 and died in 1973, remains one of the 20th century’s most influential artists.
