Case · Theft
The São Paulo Museum of Art Theft
A Picasso and a Portinari, back within weeks
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Image: Unsplash
Thieves used a car jack and crowbar to break into MASP before dawn in 2007 and took Picasso's 'Portrait of Suzanne Bloch' and Portinari's 'O Lavrador de Café'. Both were recovered months later.
The three-minute burglary exposed startling gaps in the museum's security systems. The works — one a Picasso, the other a national treasure of Brazilian modernism — were among the country's most celebrated paintings.
São Paulo police recovered both in early 2008, undamaged, and arrested the men responsible.