Paris Drug Bust Recovers Stolen $17 M. Picasso Canvas
During a June 15 police raid in Champigny-sur-Marne, a Paris suburb, authorities recovered a stolen Pablo Picasso painting while also seizing about 40 pounds of cannabis resin, several thousand euros in cash, and several hundred thousand euros’ worth of luxury clothing. Le Parisien reported that the canvas, valued at roughly $13.7 million to $17.1 million, depicts Picasso’s lover and muse Marie-Thérèse Walter and belongs to a collector from Singapore; it was allegedly stolen by a worker at a Paris art storage facility who claimed he wanted to expose security flaws. Four people were arrested and had an initial court hearing on Friday, with a trial tentatively set for August. The article notes Picasso’s market stature, including a $179.4 million auction record for “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)” sold at Christie’s New York in 2015, and that ARTDAI counts 16 Picasso canvases selling for more than $50 million.
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This story was covered in Restitution Reckonings and Censorship Flashpoints