PICASSO AND MATISSE MASTERPIECES STOLEN FROM PARIS MUSEUM

20.05.2010 [18:22]
Print
A⁺ A^-

Baku, May 20 (AZERTAC). Five paintings worth €500m (£430m) - including masterpieces by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse - have been stolen from a Paris museum, French police said today.

A police spokesman said works by Picasso, Matisse, George Braque, Amedeo Modigliani and Fernand Léger were reported missing early this morning from the Paris Museum of Modern Art.

The pictures are: Le Pigeon aux Petits Pois by Picasso; La Pastorale by Matisse; L`Olivier Près de l`Estaque by Braque; La Femme a l`Eventail by Modigliani, and Nature Morte aux Chandeliers by Léger.

The burglary was discovered just before 7am. A window had been broken and the padlock of a grille giving access to the museum was smashed. CCTV footage showed a person climbing in through a window.

Police and investigators have cordoned off the museum, which is in the 16th arrondisement, across the river Seine from the Eiffel Tower.

Le Monde reported that the paintings were so well-known that it would be difficult to sell them on the open market. Previous thefts have involved paintings being stolen to order on behalf of private collectors.

PICASSO AND MATISSE MASTERPIECES STOLEN FROM PARIS MUSEUM

FEEDBACK

Other news in this section