Greek construction worker arrested for Picasso work theft

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By DEREK GATOPOULOS

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A painting donated to Greece by Pablo Picasso will go back on display at the newly renovated National Gallery in Athens following its recovery more than nine years after it was stolen and the arrest of a 49-year-old construction worker as a suspect.

Authorities said Tuesday that Picasso’s “Woman’s Head” and a work by the Dutch master Piet Mondrian, “Stammer Mill with Summer House,” were stolen in January 2012 from the National Gallery in Athens.

They were recovered, wrapped in plastic sheets and hidden in a dry river bed outside Athens after the suspect was detained for questioning.

The Picasso work of a female in cubist style was donated to Greece in 1949 with a dedication “in homage to the Greek people” for their resistance against the German-led occupation in World War II.



A cubist female bust by the Spanish painter Picasso, left, and a 1905 representational oil painting of a riverside windmill by the Dutch painter Mondrian are displayed by police officers, in Athens during a press conference, on Tuesday, June 29, 2021. Greek police says they have recovered two paintings by 20th century masters Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian, nearly a decade after their theft from the country's biggest state art gallery in Athens. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/europe-arrests-theft-arts-and-entertainment-56180334352b1ceb4119d269558375ea

[dawg day]

1. So the thief couldn't even sell it?

Kind of a waste of a probably clever scheme.

[nuxvomica]

2. I am such a poor student of art I didn't recognize the Mondrian

When I saw the photo, I thought it was an earlier work by another painter. I think of him as an exclusively abstract artist.

[Merlot]

3. Yes, that Mondrian was a surprise

My last guess would have been Mondrian. It's a lovely painting.

[nuxvomica]

4. It's like when I first saw Picasso's "Blue Period" stuff

After only being familiar with his cubist works. I thought, wow this guy can really paint. It blew my mind that there was more to this art thing than just representing things, like a photograph.

[robbob]

5. Doesn't a "bust" refer to a sculpted head?

I mean that painting has a bust. I think? 😂

[Bayard]

6. I bet the woman who posed for that painting was pissed

You make me sit motionless for hours, and this is what you come up with?!

Never a Picasso fan. And I was an art major. Really like the Mondrian.

[marble falls]

7. Then I saw a special about his portraits that put a photo of the subject next to the painting ...

... I was floored: it was obvious they were identifiable portraits.

If you were to blind match eight of them, I'd bet you'd have no problem matching them correctly.

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Well worth the wait, I guess ? nt