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Paintings recovered undamaged

Rio de Janeiro: Police in Brazil have recovered two paintings worth a total of £28-million, three weeks after they were stolen from one of South America’s most prestigious galleries.

Escorted by a helicopter and more than a dozen police vehicles, the works by Pablo Picasso and the Brazilian artist Candido Portinari were returned on Wednesday to the Sao Paulo Museum of Art (Masp). Picasso’s Portrait of Suzanne Bloch and Portinari’s The Coffee Worker, which were stolen by masked men on December 20, were found on Tuesday at a house in Greater Sao Paulo. Two arrests were made, but police are still hunting for the mastermind behind the theft.

Few details were released about the police operation, but reports in the Brazilian press suggested that a third suspect had led them to the safe house, where the works were found undamaged.

Brazil’s authorities believe the raid may have been commissioned overseas.

“Thefts like this were probably not carried out by Brazilians,” said the pop-star Culture Minister, Gilberto Gil. “They must be linked to international gangs.” Speaking at a press conference, the police chief Mauricio Freire said: “Evidently [the two suspects] did not commit this crime for themselves and the next step is to find the person who ‘ordered’ the paintings.” — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

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Paintings recovered undamaged

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