Stolen Picasso Prints Worth $112,000 Recovered In French Riviera

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Six prints by Pablo Picasso, valued at just over $112,000, have been recovered from an apartment in the French Riviera. Investigators reported finding the works hidden beneath clothes and toolboxes, near the L'Amandier restaurant in Mougins, from which they were stolen.

The theft occurred on October 1 at approximately 2 a.m., when two masked and gloved men entered the restaurant through a door, taking less than a minute to steal the prints. Restaurant owner Matthieu Autant discovered the theft later that morning and alerted local authorities, with officers from Cannes assigned to the case. Mougins is notable as the village where Picasso lived until his death in 1973.

The recovery happened on November 3, nearly one month after the theft, when 40 gendarmes searched two apartments. Seven men, aged between 18 and 30, were arrested, including three burglars and four accomplices, according to French publication Le Monde. Belgian outlet La Libre reported the prints' valuation.

Lieutenant Colonel Guillaume Plaidy told Le Monde that the prints“were not easy works to sell,” noting that the arrested men were“known more for drug and weapons offenses” and lacked the expertise to find a buyer for art. Plaidy emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating,“We had to act quickly: Works like these carry a high risk of being resold and never returning to the art market.”

The quick recovery has offered a glimmer of hope amid heightened concerns about art theft in Europe, following incidents at institutions like the Louvre in 2025, the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, and the Magnani Rocca Foundation near Parma, Italy.

Leisa Paoli, head of the Female Artists Museum of Mougins, expressed relief, saying,“We are delighted to be able to recover them; I thought they might have already left the country.” Autant, the restaurant owner, told France 2,“We may have to rethink the security arrangements.”

Source: ARTnews

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