The paintings, Picasso’s Tête (Head) and Chagall’s L’homme en prière (The Praying Man), were stolen from an art collector in Tel Aviv in 2010 and are worth around €820,000. The works were found in a basement in the city of Antwerp. Local authorities said that although they had been missing for more than a decade, they were still in good condition.
Since their theft in 2010, there was no trace of their whereabouts until 2022, when police were informed that a Belgian citizen was selling the two works. Since then, the authorities have been investigating the suspect until last week, when they proceeded to search him at his home. Although the suspect confessed to possessing the paintings, he refused to disclose where he was keeping them.
Investigations ended in Antwerp where, during a further search, the two pieces were found properly conditioned, with the original frame and no signs of damage. The suspect is a 68-year-old Israeli watch dealer who stole the paintings along with jewellery. The suspect and his wife have been arrested and tried in a court hearing.
According to an investigation by The Art Loss Register last year, Picasso is the artist from whom the most works have been stolen, and mostly in Britain. In turn, Noah Charney, a renowned expert on crime and works of art said that the work of the artist from Malaga is the one that arouses the greatest interest among these groups. Do you know why? The reason is the profitability of his production.
His canvases are traded on all markets, legitimate and illegal. His cultural penetration is anachronistic, which is why the taste for Picasso never ceases, on the contrary, it increases year by year. Donna Yates, associate professor of criminal law and criminology at Maastricht University, claims that there are more fake Picassos than real ones. Still don’t know which were the best art moments of 2023?
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