HIBAPRESS – Agencies
Spanish police are investigating the disappearance of a miniature painting by the artist Pablo Picasso worth 600,000 euros, during its transport from Madrid to an exhibition in the southern city of Granada.
The painting "Still Life with Guitar," painted in gouache and pencil, was scheduled to be displayed at a new exhibition at the Caja Granada Foundation, which opened last week. However, the painting, created in 1919 and measuring 12.7 cm x 9.8 cm, never arrived at the exhibition titled "Still Life: The Immortality of the Static." The painting is owned by a private collector in the Spanish capital and was expected to arrive as part of a shipment of loaned exhibits that arrived by truck from Madrid on Friday, October 3. The foundation stated that upon the truck's arrival at 10:00 am that day, its contents were unloaded and inspected. Although some carefully packed works were not correctly numbered, making a "thorough inspection" impossible, the shipment was signed for and the truck and its crew continued on their way. The following Monday, the boxes containing the pieces were opened, which had been under video surveillance throughout the weekend. The foundation explained in a statement: "After the boxes were opened by the staff of the Caja Granada Foundation itself, the works were moved to different sections of the exhibition hall. In the middle of the morning of that day, the exhibition curator and the head of the exhibitions department at the foundation noticed the disappearance of one work. The piece is a miniature gouache painting by Pablo Picasso, entitled Still Life with Guitar." The foundation confirmed that it had reported the disappearance of the painting to the National Police, adding: "We have also put ourselves at the disposal of the investigators, and we are fully confident that the case will be resolved appropriately."
