Picasso And Mondrian Paintings Found Years After Stolen In Museum Heist

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Picasso And Mondrian Paintings Found Years After Stolen In Museum Heist
Credit: Handout/National Art Gallery, Athens/Hellenic Police.

Missing artworks by Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian have been recovered by Greek police almost a decade after they were stolen in a daring museum heist.

The two paintings, which had been taken from National Art Gallery in Athens, were discovered Monday, with one suspect arrested in connection with the theft, a Greek police spokesperson confirmed.
Picasso’s “Head of a Woman” and Mondrian’s “Landscape with a Mill” were among three artworks grabbed in an early morning raid in 2012.
At the time, officers said the intruders had interfered with the alarm system overnight, setting it off repeatedly until it was disabled by museum guards.


Both were taken, along with a third artwork, during an elaborate 2012 heist at the Athens National Gallery.

The artworks were stripped from their frames in the early morning raid which only took minutes to carry out.

Reuters news agency, citing an anonymous police official, reported that a Greek man has been arrested after the art was found hidden at a gorge on the outskirts of the city.

Monday’s announcement came just months after it was reported that Greek police still believed the artwork was in the country.

Picasso painting, a portrait of a woman in his signature cubist style, was gifted to the National Gallery by the artist himself back in 1949. Painted a decade earlier, he said the gift was in recognition to the country’s resistance to Nazi Germany.

Credit: Handout/National Art Gallery, Athens/Hellenic Police  Greek police recover Picasso and Mondrian paintings stolen in museum heist
Credit: Handout/National Art Gallery, Athens/Hellenic Police Greek police recover Picasso and Mondrian paintings stolen in museum heist
The second painting, Mondrian’s “Landscape with a Mill,” is a lesser-known figurative work by an artist renowned for his abstract style.
"Landscape with a Mill," by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, was one of the two paintings found by Greek police. Credit: Handout/National Art Gallery, Athens/Hellenic Police
“Landscape with a Mill,” by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, was one of the two paintings found by Greek police. Credit: Handout/National Art Gallery, Athens/Hellenic Police
A third item taken in the heist, a pen-and-ink sketch by Renaissance artist, Guglielmo Caccia, was not among the recovered items.
Guglielmo Caccia's missing sketch of San Diego de Alcala was not among the recovered items. Credit: Handout/National Art Gallery, Athens/Hellenic Police
Guglielmo Caccia’s missing sketch of San Diego de Alcala was not among the recovered items. Credit: Handout/National Art Gallery, Athens/Hellenic Police


The theft took place on the final day of an exhibition entitled “Unknown Treasures,” which had also featured prints and etchings by artists including Albrecht Duerer and Rembrandt van Rijn.

Thieves had initially grabbed a fourth work — “Landscape with a farm,” also by Mondrian — though it was dropped during their getaway.
Citing a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Reuters reported that the two recovered artworks were found hidden at a gorge in the greater Athens area.

 

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