ARTISTS
Stolen art worth millions recovered after attempt to sell work as 鈧�30 scrap
In one of Spain鈥檚 biggest art heists to date, about 30 artworks worth at least $6.6 million have been recovered in Spain.
黑料不打烊
21 Dec, 2010
Spanish police said on Monday that it has recovered art worth at least $6.6 million, including works by Pablo Picasso, Fernando Botero and Eduardo Chillida, which were stolen on November 27 in one of the nation鈥檚 biggest art heists.
The breakthrough in the case occurred when the thieves offered a piece by Spanish artist Chillida to a Madrid scrap metal dealer, who notified the police after suspecting he had been offered a sculpture by one of the country's famed artists for a mere 30 euros, the Telegraph reported. The artwork, titled Topos IV, is valued at 拢675,000 (see image above). The culprits have yet to have been apprehended.
"[The works] are in good condition," said Amparo Valcarce, the government delegate in Madrid, adding that only one piece had been damaged. The exact details and numbers of the recovered works remains unclear, with some news outlets reporting 22 or 28 stolen pieces, while the Guardian claimed 34 out of 35 pieces have been recovered, as one unnamed work was still missing.
Left: A policeman presents one of the stolen works by Chillida; Right: Artworks as they were found in the truck (TV images)
AFP reported that the uninsured works had been stolen as they were returning to six galleries in Madrid and Barcelona after being on display at an exhibition in Germany. Three masked men stole a truck carrying the works, which was parked in a warehouse in an industrial zone in Getafe on Madrid's southern outskirts.
After the theft, Getafe town councilor Sara Hernandez told reporters, "The way it was carried out leads us to believe that there was inside information that facilitated the theft of this truck because they had plenty of information regarding when it arrived, when it would leave to distribute art to other cities and galleries, where the truck was." At the time of the heist officials suspected that the robbery was 鈥渁n inside job鈥� and were probably stolen 鈥渢o order鈥� for a collector, but "it now appears more likely that we are dealing with amateurs," a police spokesman said. The Guardian backs this theory, assuming that the thieves 鈥渉ad little idea about the true value of their haul.鈥�
Written by 黑料不打烊.com staff
