A work on paper by Pablo Picasso left Madrid two weeks ago and has not been accounted for between there and its intended destination in Granada, according to a report on Thursday in El Pais.
“The work, half a page in size, apparently left the headquarters of the company that transported it from Pinto (Madrid) along with 56 other pieces,” reads the report by Javier Arroyo. “They all arrived and are now on display in the exhibition ‘Still Life. The Eternity of the Inert’ at the CajaGranada Cultural Center. All traces of the Picasso piece seem to have evaporated during a most peculiar journey.”
Stiff Life with Guitar, from 1919, belongs to an unnamed private collector and is said to have been insured for €600,000 (around $700,000). According to police investigating the presumed theft, the vehicle transporting the work along with 56 other pieces traveling to the same exhibition stopped overnight—a curious move, given the drive-time between Madrid and Granada is only about four hours and the overnight stop was less than 20 miles away from the final destination.
“There, the two people on board, apparently and with little luck, took turns watching over the items being transported,” said El Pais, which noted “this newspaper has tried, without success, to contact the logistics company responsible for the transfer.”
After the artworks were delivered to the CajaGranada Cultural Center the next day, workers at the institution discovered that an especially notable one—by Picasso—was missing. The delivery is said to have happened in a video-surveilled area, but, according to the exhibition manager, “not all the packaging was properly numbered, [so] it wasn’t possible to conduct a thorough check without unpacking.” The group of works delivered remained at CajaGranada over the weekend and, after careful inventory was taken on Monday morning, Stiff Life with Guitar was found to be missing.
In a statement, the CajaGranada Foundation said, “We have also put ourselves at the disposal of those investigating, and we have complete faith that the case will be properly resolved.”
After nearly two weeks the work remains unaccounted for. Police said they are trying to determine when the work disappeared, and that no arrests have been made as of yet.
