Spanish authorities have launched an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of a small but valuable Pablo Picasso painting worth approximately $650,000 that vanished while being transported from Madrid to an exhibition in Granada. The gouache and pencil artwork, titled "Naturaleza muerta con guitarra" (Still Life with Guitar), was scheduled to be displayed at a new exhibition hosted by the CajaGranada Foundation.
The missing painting, created in 1919 and measuring just 12.7cm x 9.8cm, was intended to be featured in the foundation's exhibition called "Still Life: the Eternity of the Inert," which opened last week. The artwork belongs to a private collector based in the Spanish capital and was part of a shipment of loaned pieces that were being transported by van from Madrid on Friday, October 3rd.
According to the CajaGranada Foundation, the delivery van arrived at their facility at 10:00 AM on that Friday, and the contents were immediately unloaded and inspected. However, foundation officials noted that some of the carefully packaged artworks were not properly numbered, making it impossible to conduct a thorough inventory check at the time of delivery. Despite this complication, the delivery was officially signed off, and the van crew departed.
The transported artworks remained under continuous video surveillance throughout the weekend before being unpacked the following Monday by the foundation's own staff members. Once the unpacking process was completed, the various pieces were distributed to different sections of the exhibition space. It was during the mid-morning hours of that Monday when the exhibition's curator and the foundation's head of exhibitions discovered that one piece was missing – the small Picasso gouache titled "Still Life with Guitar."
The CajaGranada Foundation immediately reported the painting's disappearance to the Policía Nacional and released a statement saying, "We have also put ourselves at the disposal of those investigating, and we have complete faith that the case will be properly resolved." Spanish media outlets have suggested that the transport van may have made an overnight stop somewhere near Granada, with reports indicating that the two crew members aboard took turns guarding the valuable cargo during the journey.
This latest incident adds to a long history of thefts targeting Picasso's artwork, driven by the artist's worldwide fame and the enormous sums his pieces command at auction. The artist's works have consistently been prime targets for art thieves across the globe, with several high-profile cases occurring over the past few decades.
In February 2007, two Picasso paintings with a combined value of $54 million were stolen from the Paris residence of the artist's granddaughter. Just two years later, thieves made off with a Picasso sketchbook worth more than $8.7 million from a Paris museum dedicated to the renowned artist. Another significant theft occurred in 1989 when twelve Picasso paintings, valued at approximately $9.8 million, were stolen from the French Riviera villa belonging to Marina Picasso, another of the artist's grandchildren.
Numerous other Picasso works have been targeted by thieves at galleries and museums worldwide. One of France's largest art thefts took place in 1976 when 118 works were stolen from a museum in the southern city of Avignon. In a more brazen 1997 incident, an armed gunman walked into a central London art gallery, stole Picasso's "Tête de Femme" worth more than $540,000, and escaped in a waiting taxi. Fortunately, that particular work was eventually recovered by authorities.
The investigation into the missing Granada painting remains ongoing, with Spanish police working to determine exactly when and how the artwork disappeared during its journey from Madrid. The incident highlights the ongoing security challenges faced by museums and galleries when transporting valuable artworks, particularly pieces by world-renowned artists like Picasso whose works continue to attract both legitimate collectors and criminal elements.
