Sao Paulo museum recovers stolen Picasso, Portinari paintings

Jan 9, 2008, 16:19 GMT

Sao Paulo - Brazilian police returned two works by Pablo Picasso and Candido Portinari valued at 56 million dollars to the Sao Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) on Wednesday.

The paintings were stolen on December 20 and were found late Tuesday.

Two arrests were made in the theft, and the police are currently searching for the person who ordered the crime and a third robber who has already been identified.

Reports said the robbers had been hired for the job and were to receive 5 million real (about 2.8 million dollars) from someone else for the paintings.

The two works of art - a 50-million-dollar painting by Picasso and a 6-million-dollar work by Brazilian artist Portinari - were found in a Sao Paulo suburb.

The paintings were returned to the museum by a company that specializes in moving works of art. The truck was escorted by some 100 police officers.

MASP conservation officer Karen Barbosa said the paintings apparently suffered no damage, but the two works will be subjected to detailed evaluation, using special lamps and magnifying glasses, to make sure they are in perfect condition.

'This is the greatest celebration we have had in these 60 years (the museum's history), and it is a triumph of the police's brilliant work,' MASP president Julio Neves said of the recovery.

Neves added that the robbery led several companies to offer their assistance to improve the museum's fragile security system.

The museum - Latin America's largest and most important - holds more than 8,000 works of art.

Thieves broke into the MASP December 20, making off with Picasso's Portrait de Suzanne Bloch (1904) and Portinari's O Lavrador de Cafe (1939), which are among the museum's most valuable pieces.

The two works were recovered late Tuesday at a house in the town of Ferraz de Vasconcelos, in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area.

Police arrested two suspects accused of being part of a group that made the most of the absence of security personnel in the MASP's upper floors. Security cameras filmed three thieves who took just three minutes inside the Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo shortly after 5 am on December 20.

Following the robbery, the Brazilian Culture Ministry said tax incentives would be granted to help MASP officials raise more than 4 million dollars needed to finance improvements in the museum's security system. The MASP is currently managed by a private foundation.

Jose do Nascimento, director of the Culture Ministry's Museum Department, said Tuesday the Brazilian government would like to have a representative on the MASP's board.

'It is a national asset which has international repercussions,' the official said.

MASP officials said that the museum, which has been closed since the robbery, is set to re-open Friday, with a tighter security system that will include constant police surveillance, particularly at night.

Until the robbery, the museum only had a few security cameras and unarmed guards, with no alarm system or movement detectors. None of the MASP's works are insured.