The work of famed French artist Henri Matisse was amongst 13 items of artwork stolen from a public library in Brazil over the weekend, native authorities mentioned.
Eight artworks by Matisse have been taken within the heist, in addition to 5 items by Brazilian modernist painter Candido Portinari.
Authorities haven’t disclosed the titles or the worth of Matisse’s stolen items, however the 5 engravings by Portinari have been illustrations from the 1959 e-book “Menino de Engenho” (“Plantation Boy”), in response to São Paulo metropolis corridor. It wasn’t instantly clear if any of the stolen works have been recovered with the arrest of a suspect.
The artworks have been a part of a joint exhibit with the São Paulo Museum of Trendy Artwork that highlighted uncommon books and the way modernism took form in Brazil. The exhibit opened in October and its ultimate day was on Sunday, in response to the library’s web site.
A Brazilian police patrol stands in entrance of the Mario de Andrade Public Library from the place a number of engravings have been stolen in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil on December 7, 2025. Eight engravings by French artist Henri Matisse and 5 by Brazilian modernist painter Candido Portinari -part of an exhibition on the modernist motion – have been stolen from the library, the Brazilian metropolis’s authorities reported.
Nelson ALMEIDA /AFP through Getty Photos
Works by Matisse, a towering determine of Twentieth-century fashionable artwork, can promote for tens of millions of {dollars}. A collection of round 60 of his drawings bought for greater than $2.5 million at public sale home Christie’s in October, in response to specialty web site artnet.
The report worth for a Matisse was $80.8 million in 2018 for his “Odalisque couchée aux magnolias.”
Police mentioned investigators have been capable of establish one of many two suspects, the BBC reported. That suspect was later arrested on Monday, officers mentioned.
The person was apprehended in central São Paolo after being “identified following investigative work and analysis of security cameras that recorded the criminal act on Sunday,” the federal government of the Brazilian state mentioned in an announcement.
Earlier on Monday, police mentioned that they had discovered the robbers’ getaway automobile. São Paulo’s safety division additionally mentioned investigations have been ongoing to establish the second suspect.
The artwork heist comes almost two months after a bunch of thieves broke into the Louvre museum in Paris, stealing jewellery valued at round $100 million inside a matter of minutes.
The high-profile break-in renewed concentrate on safety protocols at museums all over the world.
