Another Art Theft Strikes France

By ARTINFO

Published: May 24, 2010

Photo by Guillermo Fdez, courtesy Flickr

A day after five paintings went missing from the Paris Museum of Modern Art, thieves stole works from a collector in Marseille.

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MARSEILLE, France—One day after a group of important paintings worth approximately $123 million was stolen from Paris's Museum of Modern Art, a second, smaller art theft followed in Marseille. The BBC is reporting that burglars knocked on the door of a collector’s home there, beat the owner up, and evaded a pair of security guards to flee with five works of art.

The most important of the latest stolen works is a Picasso lithographic print of a woman's face. No dollar amount has been given for the Marseille pieces, and authorities have not said if they believe there is a connection between the two thefts. The collector who was attacked was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

In contrast to the Marseille burglary, last week’s heist in Paris included five major works: Dove with Green Peas (1911) by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse’s Pastoral (1906), Olive Tree near l'Estaque (1906) by Georges Braque, Woman with Fan (1919) by Amedeo Modigliani, and Fernand Leger’s Still Life with Candlestick (1922).