Spanish police announced on Friday, October 24, that they have recovered a Pablo Picasso painting that disappeared earlier this month during transport between Madrid and Granada. Authorities suggest the artwork may have never actually been loaded onto the transport truck that was supposed to carry it to its destination.
The incident involves Picasso's "Still Life with Guitar," painted in 1919 by the Spanish artist. This bizarre case has generated shock and curiosity in Spanish media outlets. The gouache painting is estimated to be worth approximately 600,000 euros and vanished in early October during its transfer from Madrid, the capital, to Granada in Andalusia, southern Spain.
The painting was scheduled to be displayed to the public at the Caja Granada Foundation. The foundation clarified in a statement on October 16 that museum staff had discovered the unexplained absence of the artwork ten days earlier when they "unpacked" all the paintings intended for exhibition. Throughout this entire process, the museum assured that it followed standard security protocols, including video surveillance monitoring.
On Friday, Spanish police celebrated in a statement that they had quickly "recovered" Pablo Picasso's artwork, publishing images showing the painting in the hands of their scientific experts. "Initial investigations suggest that the painting may not have been loaded onto the truck" that was supposed to transport it to Granada, police specified, without providing additional details.
The Caja Granada Foundation told AFP on Friday that it would still like to present Picasso's work to the public as part of its exhibition "Still Life - The Eternity of the Inert." The high value of the Spanish artist's works makes them prime targets for thieves.
This is not the first time Picasso's works have been involved in theft cases. In 1976, more than 100 Pablo Picasso paintings were stolen in Avignon, in southeastern France. However, all of the canvases were eventually recovered. Pablo Picasso, born in 1881 in Malaga, southern Spain, and who died in 1973 in Mougins, southeastern France, is considered one of the greatest painters in history.
