Thieves stole works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and others from a Berlin gallery over the New Year’s holiday, police said Friday.

More than 30 works — worth an estimated euro180,000 ($250,000) — were stolen, apparently between Wednesday afternoon and lunchtime Thursday, police spokeswoman Claudia Schweiger said. The artwork was taking from the Fasanengalerie, a private gallery near western Berlin’s central shopping district.

The etchings, prints and sculptures included “Profil au fond noir,” a 1947 work by Picasso; “Nude in a rocking chair,” a Matisse print from 1913; and “Le Boupeut,” a 1962 color print by Georges Braque.

The gallery’s owner discovered the loss New Year’s Day, having found signs the door had been pried open, police said. Given the number of works stolen and the weight of the sculptures, two or more people probably were involved, police said in a statement.

- Source: AP

It sure does seem like there have been a lot of art thefts recently. I’ve only been writing this blog for about a month now and I never realized stuff was stolen so frequently.

So according to Reuters, armed robbers stole two Picasso prints and two works by Brazilian artists from Sao Paulo’s Pinacoteca Museum today.

“The three robbers entered the museum in broad daylight and threatened security guards.”

I don’t know about you but if I were a security guard I would fantasize about the day someone came in trying to steal something so I could finally use my gun, or at least my giant can of pepper spray.

“They made off with the Spanish artist’s 1963 print “The Painter and the Model” and “Minotaur, Drinker and Women” from 1933, the state culture.

They also snatched the print “Couple” by Brazilian artist Lasar Segall (1891-1957) and the painting “Women in a Window” by fellow Brazilian Emiliano Di Cavalcanti (1897-1976).

The artworks, belonging to the Jose and Paulina Nemirovsky Foundation and worth in total about 1 million reais ($613,000), were on display in the Pinacoteca Station annex of the museum.

It was the second theft of works by Picasso, who lived from 1881 to 1973, in Sao Paulo in recent months.

In December, his painting “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch” was stolen from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art along with Brazilian painter Candido Portinari’s “The Coffee Worker,” worth a combined $55 million.

Those thieves forced open the museum’s main door with a hydraulic jack and used a crowbar to smash a glass door. The museum had no alarm system and neither painting was insured.”

Seriously what is the deal with museums not having alarms or cameras or even insurance?!

“Police recovered the paintings and arrested two suspects a few weeks later.”

So there you have it, the latest in your art thievery news. I really had no idea this happened so much.

As reported earlier, 12 pieces of art by Canadian artist Bill Reid had been stolen from the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. The value was estimated at around $2 million.

On Sunday June 8th, a house in south Burnaby was raided by police in connection with the case according to RCMP Const. Annie Linteau. She did not say if all of the items had been recovered but police are still present at some locations connected with the crime.

Linteau said police hope to release more information today, so I will update this post when more information becomes available.

Update: All I’ve been able to find so far is a quote from a museum spokesman Scott McRae. He says, “I can confirm that they (the RCMP) told us that at least some of the Bill Reid pieces stolen from the Vancouver museum have been recovered and intact”.

So it sounds like only some of the pieces were found. If anyone knows more post in the comments, and when I find more I’ll update.

2nd Update: There are still 2 pieces missing according to the National Post and The Globe and Mail.

“After searching both residences extensively, all but two stolen Bill Reid art exhibits were recovered intact. The substantive items, including the most prized, which is the gold box with an eagle, were recovered,” said RCMP Inspector Brendan Fitzpatrick.

Police are still hopeful that the pieces were not melted down for the gold.

“While we are satisfied that we have recovered most of the stolen items, the RCMP would like to seek the public’s assistance in recovering the last two items which we have reason to believe are still in the Lower Mainland area,” Insp. FitzPatrick said. “Our investigation to date indicates those items likely went to a local buyer or stolen property broker.”

Art news is hard to find sometimes. I was browsing around in the AP news feed over at newsvine and I discovered this.

“A French prosecutor says police have recovered four paintings stolen in August from a museum in southern France.

The prosecutor’s office in Marseille announced the discovery Wednesday. It said about 10 people were arrested in southern France in the case.

One of the paintings is by Claude Monet and another is by fellow impressionist Alfred Sisley. Two are by Flemish master Jan Brueghel the Elder. The paintings were stolen from the Museum of Fine Arts in Nice by masked gunmen on Aug. 5.”

I’ve been looking around but I haven’t found which pieces they are yet. I’ll post more info when I find it. With all the art thefts it sure is nice when pieces are found.

The 1945 painting ‘Troubadour’ by Rufino Tamayo, is the highest selling piece of Latin American art. The piece sold for $7.2 million beating out Frida Kahlo’s “Roots,” which sold in May 2006 for $5.6 million.

“The 1945 painting, which depicts a musician strumming his guitar as two women watch, was acquired by an anonymous buyer“, Christie’s spokeswoman Sung-Hee Park said.

Some people may be familiar with Tamayo from an episode of Antiques Roadshow” in a “Missing Masterpieces” segment in May 2005.

“Tres Personajes, second version,” was sold in 1977 at a sale of modern pictures in Sotheby’s. In the fall of 1987, after its owners had placed the painting for safekeeping in an art storage warehouse, it was discovered that “Tres Personajes, second version,” along with several other pieces, was missing.

“Tres Personajes” was found among trash on a Manhattan street in 2003. Elizabeth Gibson, the woman who found the canvas, credited an ANTIQUES ROADSHOW FYI “Missing Masterpieces” segment about the painting for providing confirmation of her amazing find. On Nov. 20, 2007, “Tres Personajes” was sold to an undisclosed collector for $1.049 million in a Sotheby’s auction of Latin American art.“

For more information on the auction as well as the painting, you can check out Christie’s auction page.