Thieves Grab 30 Paintings in France

NJ wine steward nabbed for theft of $200K sketch

(NEWSER) - A thief who strolled out of a San Francisco gallery with a stolen Picasso has been arrested and the 1965 pencil sketch has been recovered, police say. The suspect, a man who flew in from New Jersey the day before the theft, was found staying with friends in Northern California's wine country, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . Police say he had the sketch ready for shipment and it "would have been in a FedEx box somewhere" if they had found him a day later. More»

And still gets away with it

(NEWSER) - Seems like something that deserves the " dumb criminals " label, except that he got away: A thief nabbed a $200,000 Pablo Picasso pencil drawing in a San Francisco gallery yesterday, then hailed a cab and vanished. The man, who was well-dressed and wearing dark glasses, apparently grabbed the drawing without attracting any attention, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Thieves stole a sketchbook containing 33 Pablo Picasso drawings from the Picasso Museum in Paris, the Daily Mail reports. The security system was somehow disabled and there was no sign of forced entry. The theft occurred sometime last night or early today and resembles the 2007 robbery of the home of one of Picasso’s granddaughters, when two paintings worth $55 million were taken. More»

Cops say NJ man went on art theft spree last month

(NEWSER) - The New Jersey man arrested for stealing a Picass o from a San Francisco gallery last month was apparently trying to add to his personal collection of stolen art, police say. Authorities raided Mark Lugo's home in Hoboken and found 11 stolen artworks—including another Picasso drawing—worth a total of some $500,000, the Bay Citizen reports. More»

Stolen Chillida, Picasso works recovered

(NEWSER) - A Spanish gang of late contenders for the "Dumbest Criminal of 2010" award offered to sell a scrap merchant an iron sculpture worth close to $1 million ... for just $65, police say. The artwork, by Spanish sculptor Eduardo Chillida, has been recovered, along with works by Pablo Picasso and Fernando Botero that were stolen when crooks made off with a truckload of artworks from a Madrid warehouse last month, the Guardian reports. More»