A stolen Picasso painting was found during a raid against drug traffickers in France
During an investigation into a drug trafficking case, French law enforcement officials unexpectedly discovered a stolen Pablo Picasso painting worth up to 15 million euros.
During a search in a Paris suburb, investigators found drugs, cash, designer clothing, and a painting that experts later identified as an original Picasso depicting his muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter.
According to the investigation, the painting belongs to a Singaporean citizen and was stolen from an art storage facility in Paris. A storage facility employee is suspected of the theft; he claimed he wanted to demonstrate flaws in the security system.
The painting is estimated to be worth 12–15 million euros. Five people have already been detained in connection with the case.
Source: Vanity Fair.
As a reminder, artist Ivan Marchuk saved his father from the NKVD during World War II. The Ivan Marchuk Museum still lacks independent funding.
It is also known that a court seized Marchuk’s paintings, which had been confiscated from the son of a former member of parliament in a fraud case.
