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The empty space, right, where Henri Matisse's "La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune" used to hang next to a painting by Maurice Denis at Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam last year. Picture: AP Source: AP
THE trial of six Romanians charged with a dramatic theft from a Dutch museum will open in Bucharest, amid fears the stolen masterpieces by Monet, Picasso and Gauguin may have been destroyed.
Five of the accused, including the alleged mastermind of the heist Radu Dogaru, are expected to be present at the hearing today.
A sixth suspect is still on the run and will be tried in absentia.
Dogaru has admitted his guilt, according to his lawyers but investigators are still trying to determine what happened to the paintings.
Dogaru's mother Olga earlier this year told prosecutors she had torched the paintings in her stove in the sleepy village of Carcaliu in a bid to destroy evidence and protect her son.
Last month she retracted her statement.
But an analysis by experts from Romania's National History Museum revealed that ashes retrieved from her stove included the remains of three oil paintings and nails from frames used before the end of the 19th century.
The museum could not say whether these were from the paintings stolen in Rotterdam. However, four of the stolen artworks were oil paintings.
It took less than three minutes for the thieves to take seven masterpieces by some of the world's most famous artists from the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam, one of the world's largest ports, in the pre-dawn heist on October 16, 2012.
Among the paintings stolen and carried away in burlap sacks were Picasso's "Tete d'Arlequin", Monet's "Waterloo Bridge" and "Femme Devant une Fenetre Ouverte, dite La Fiancee" by Paul Gauguin.
The total value of the haul, dubbed the "theft of the century" in The Netherlands, was 18 million euros ($26.38m) according to prosecutors, while art experts at the time of the heist had claimed the paintings were worth up to 100 million euros.
A Romanian art expert said yesterday she gave the police crucial information which led to the arrest of three suspects, including Radu Dogaru.
Mariana Dragu of Romania's National Art Museum said that in November 2012 she had been asked by a friend to appraise two paintings which he intended to buy.
After closely examining the two canvases - "Femme Devant une Fenetre Ouverte, dite La Fiancee" by Paul Gauguin and "La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune" by Henri Matisse - she was shocked to discover that they were original.
If found guilty of "theft with exceptionally serious consequences", he incurs a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
A gang who stole paintings by Picasso and Monet in one of Europe's biggest heists offers to return five of them in a trial deal.
5:22pm, Tuesday 13 August 2013
Picasso painting stolen from Dutch art gallery by Romanian gang
Woman With Eyes Closed by Lucian Freud
A man whose gang allegedly stole seven paintings worth tens of millions from a gallery in Holland offered to give five back if his trial was moved to the country they were stolen from.
Romanian Radu Dogaru made the offer before going on trial in his native country for stealing the pictures, which include works by Picasso, Matisse and Monet.
It emerged last month that Dogaru's mother had admitted burning the paintings in her stove.
But, after a pretrial hearing, Dogaru's lawyer said that the paintings had not been burned and that the offer had been made to return some of those taken.
Catalin Dancu, Dogaru's lawyer, said: "I tell you now that you will be surprised that they are not burned," adding that he did not know where they were.
Radu Dogaru, who is alleged to have headed the heist gang
He said Dogaru's mother Olga claimed to have burned the pictures so that the investigation would stop, but she had subsequently told him they had not been burned.
Last month it was widely reported that experts were analysing ash found in Olga Dogaru's oven after said she had burned the seven paintings when police came to search for them.
But Mr Dancu said that Dogaru was now saying that the art had not been burned and that he could return five of the pictures if his trial was moved to Holland.
He said: "Radu Dogaru proposed that he be taken to Holland to be convicted and to execute his punishment according to Dutch law, and in return he would hand over five of the paintings out of seven, because he only had these five in his possession.
"The Dutch authorities categorically refused and said any deal would be made only if all the paintings were handed over. If not, Dogaru would not go to Holland," added Mr Dancu.
Dogaru is due to face trial in Bucharest along with five others who were said to have been his accomplices.
The Bucharest Tribunal adjourned the trial for a month on Tuesday shortly after it began.
Carculiu, the village where Olga Dogaru said she had burned the art
The seven paintings were stolen last October in the biggest art heist to hit the Netherlands for more than a decade.
Thieves broke in through a rear emergency exit of the Kunsthal gallery, grabbed the paintings off the wall, put them in sacks and fled - all within two minutes.
The stolen works were Picasso's 1971 Harlequin Head; Monet's 1901 Waterloo Bridge, London and Charing Cross Bridge, London; Matisse's 1919 Reading Girl in White and Yellow; Paul Gauguin's 1898 Girl in Front of Open Window; Meyer de Haan's Self-Portrait of around 1890 and Lucian Freud's 2002 work Woman with Eyes Closed.
Forensic experts at Romania's National History Museum who examined ash from the stove of Olga Dogaru, believed they had found evidence of burned paintings.
Speaking after Tuesday's hearing at the Bucharest Tribunal, Radu Dogaru's lawyer, Catalin Dancu, said a new "expert report" would clarify the situation.
