Greek police have recovered two paintings by Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian that were stolen almost a decade ago.
Authorities have stated they are in possession of the pieces, but have not provided any further information.
In January of 2012, an overnight heist took place at the National Art Gallery of Athens. The Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian paintings were stolen, along with an ink drawing by Mannerist 16th-century painter Gugliemo Caccia.
The stolen Picasso painting was entitled Head of a Woman, and depicted a cubist female bust against a blue background.
It was donated to Greece by the artist in 1946, with a statement inscribed on its back: “in homage to the Greek people”, referring to their resistance to Nazi German occupying forces throughout the war.
Pablo Picasso
Head of a Woman pic.twitter.com/9UjYrdEtAd— Chadačynski (@chadacynski) February 15, 2021
The Mondrian work was an oil painting completed in 1905 of a riverside windmill.
Mondrian was a Dutch painter, well regarded for pioneering the use of abstraction and his utopian ideas of colour and its liberating power.
On the night of the heist, two burglars entered the National Art Gallery through an unlocked balcony door.
Security had been lured away from the scene, as several alarms had been set off in other locations of the museum.
The burglar pair then stripped the Picasso, the Caccia and two Mondrian works from their frames.
They fled upon being discovered by a security guard, and accidentally left behind one of the Mondrian paintings. The heist took place over just seven minutes.
Greek newspaper Proto Thema stated that investigators believe the Picasso work had been placed for sale on the illegal art market, likely selling for a price of $20 million.
The Greek police have not, however, released any information regarding any arrests.
Following the robbery, the National Art Museum was compelled to completely reevaluate the security measures in place.
Art heists are not as uncommon as you might think, and have occurred many times within Australia.
In 1979, over 100 Australian artworks were robbed from the South Yarra house and gallery of leading art collector Joseph Brown.
Together, the value of the works stolen amounted to $1 million.
They included artworks by William Dobell, Arthur Boyd, Russel Drysdale, Tom Roberts, and Peter Russell, forming an important part of Australia’s artistic heritage.
In 1986, Picasso’s striking work, The Weeping Woman, was stolen from the National Gallery of Victoria.
It had been purchased by the gallery in 1985 for $1.6 million, which at the time was the highest price an Australian gallery had ever paid for an artwork.
A group called “Australian Cultural Terrorists” claimed responsibility, and made demands to the then Victorian Minister for Arts whilst threatening to destroy the painting.
Possibly artists themselves, the group issued a statement demanding increases in funding and scholarships for the arts sector of Australia.
Hopefully, the Picasso and Mondrian works will be returned to the National Art Gallery of Athens without damage. Unfortunately, no information has been released about the Caccia ink work.
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