A Picasso painting worth 600,000 euros has disappeared in Spain: police are investigating.

According to Korrespondent.net: The Spanish police have launched an investigation into the disappearance of a painting by Pablo Picasso titled

“Naturaleza muerta con guitarra”

(Still Life with Guitar), valued at approximately 600,000 euros. According to The Guardian, the artwork disappeared during transportation from Madrid to Granada, where it was scheduled to be included in a new exhibition by the CajaGranada foundation.

Details of the Disappearance

This 1919 work was created with gouache and pencil on paper, and until recently belonged to a private collector in Madrid. The painting, which measures 12.7 × 9.8 cm, was sent from the capital of Spain on October 3, along with a batch of rented exhibitions.

According to information, the van with the paintings arrived in Granada that same day, the cargo was unloaded and checked, after which the transport returned to Madrid. Due to labeling issues, some works could not be fully identified during the receipt. Only after unpacking on Monday did the exhibition curator discover that

“Still Life with Guitar”

was missing.

Investigation and News

The foundation immediately reported the incident to the National Police of Spain, and an investigation is currently underway. The public only learned of the painting's disappearance today.

This is not the first time Picasso's works have been at the center of criminal activities. Over the past decades, dozens of his paintings have been stolen in France, the United Kingdom, and other countries. The most famous theft occurred in 2007 when paintings worth a total of 50 million euros were stolen from the home of the artist's granddaughter in Paris.

theguardian.com

Additionally, during the investigation, news surfaced of an incident in Florence where a visitor accidentally damaged a portrait of a Tuscan prince from the 17th century while trying to take a dramatic selfie.

Activists splashed paint on a painting of Columbus in Madrid

In conclusion, the disappearance of the Picasso painting has attracted the attention of not only police and art historians but also the general public. This serves as yet another reminder of how vulnerable art values can be during transportation. The investigation continues, and we hope that the disappearance of this important work will be investigated and resolved. Such incidents highlight the need for more stringent control over the transportation of art objects.