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Tadakatsu Honda
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May 21, 2010
PARIS MUSEUM HEIST
5 masterpieces stolen
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PARIS - A BROKEN alarm system made it as easy as 1-2-3: A masked intruder clipped a padlock, smashed a window and stole a Picasso, a Matisse and three other masterpieces from a Paris museum on Thursday - a US$123 million (S$173 million) haul that is one of the world's biggest art heists.
Offloading the artwork may prove a tougher task, however, with Interpol and collectors worldwide now on high alert. In what seemed like an art thief's fantasy, the alarm system had been broken since March in parts of the Paris Museum of Modern Art, according to the city's mayor, Bertrand Delanoe.
The museum, in a tony neighbourhood across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower, reopened in 2006 after spending US$18 million and two years upgrading its security system. Spare parts had been ordered to fix the alarm but had not yet arrived, the mayor said in a statement. So with no alarm to worry about, a lone masked intruder entered the museum about 3.50am, said Christophe Girard, deputy culture secretary at Paris City Hall.
The thief cut a padlock on a gate, then broke a side window and climbed inside - his movements caught on one of the museum's functioning cameras, according to the Paris prosecutor's office. The intruder later slipped back out, carrying the canvases and leaving behind empty frames. The whole thing took 15 minutes, a police official said. Three security guards were on duty overnight, but 'they saw nothing,' Girard said. A night watchman discovered the theft around 7 a.m.
The stolen works included Picasso's 'Le pigeon aux petits-pois' (The Pigeon with the Peas), an ochre-toned Cubist oil painting worth an estimated US$28 million, and La Pastorale' (Pastoral), a pastel-hued oil painting of nudes on a hillside by Henri Matisse worth about US$17.5 million, Girard said. Also seized were 'La femme a l'eventail' (Woman with a Fan) by Amedeo Modigliani, 'L'olivier pres de l'Estaque' (Olive Tree near Estaque) by Georges Braque and 'Nature morte aux chandeliers' (Still Life with Chandeliers) by Fernand Leger. -- AP
A reproduction of 'La Femme a l'Eventail' (Woman with Fan) painted in 1919 by Amedeo Modigliani is seen in this undated handout. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Henri Matisse's Pastoral, 1905
Georges Braque's Olive Tree Near Estaque, 1906
Fernand Leger's Still Life With Candlestick, 1922
Pablo Picasso's Dove With Green Peas, 1912
PARIS MUSEUM HEIST
5 masterpieces stolen
<!-- story content : start -->
PARIS - A BROKEN alarm system made it as easy as 1-2-3: A masked intruder clipped a padlock, smashed a window and stole a Picasso, a Matisse and three other masterpieces from a Paris museum on Thursday - a US$123 million (S$173 million) haul that is one of the world's biggest art heists.
Offloading the artwork may prove a tougher task, however, with Interpol and collectors worldwide now on high alert. In what seemed like an art thief's fantasy, the alarm system had been broken since March in parts of the Paris Museum of Modern Art, according to the city's mayor, Bertrand Delanoe.
The museum, in a tony neighbourhood across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower, reopened in 2006 after spending US$18 million and two years upgrading its security system. Spare parts had been ordered to fix the alarm but had not yet arrived, the mayor said in a statement. So with no alarm to worry about, a lone masked intruder entered the museum about 3.50am, said Christophe Girard, deputy culture secretary at Paris City Hall.
The thief cut a padlock on a gate, then broke a side window and climbed inside - his movements caught on one of the museum's functioning cameras, according to the Paris prosecutor's office. The intruder later slipped back out, carrying the canvases and leaving behind empty frames. The whole thing took 15 minutes, a police official said. Three security guards were on duty overnight, but 'they saw nothing,' Girard said. A night watchman discovered the theft around 7 a.m.
The stolen works included Picasso's 'Le pigeon aux petits-pois' (The Pigeon with the Peas), an ochre-toned Cubist oil painting worth an estimated US$28 million, and La Pastorale' (Pastoral), a pastel-hued oil painting of nudes on a hillside by Henri Matisse worth about US$17.5 million, Girard said. Also seized were 'La femme a l'eventail' (Woman with a Fan) by Amedeo Modigliani, 'L'olivier pres de l'Estaque' (Olive Tree near Estaque) by Georges Braque and 'Nature morte aux chandeliers' (Still Life with Chandeliers) by Fernand Leger. -- AP
A reproduction of 'La Femme a l'Eventail' (Woman with Fan) painted in 1919 by Amedeo Modigliani is seen in this undated handout. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Henri Matisse's Pastoral, 1905
Georges Braque's Olive Tree Near Estaque, 1906
Fernand Leger's Still Life With Candlestick, 1922
Pablo Picasso's Dove With Green Peas, 1912
