As recently reported, sometime between last Thursday evening and early Friday morning a thief or thieves stole a 1956 work by Pablo Picasso entitled “Visage aux Mains (Face with Hands)” from an Amsterdam-based gallery booth at Art Miami. The Picasso work is a 16.5 inch in diameter silver plate and is worth an estimated $85,000. The stolen work is one of a series of 20 plates created by the renowned Spanish artist. Interestingly, a significantly more expensive Picasso ceramic valued at $365,000 was hung below the stolen Picasso silver plate and was not touched.
Last week’s art heist has been classified by the Miami police as a grand theft. A $5,000 reward has been issued by Art Miami for the return of the Picasso work with no questions asked. The reason behind the relatively low amount for such an expensive work is because it is thought that the thief or thieves may have been after the plate’s silver (estimated to be valued at around $400 when melted down) instead of its value on the art market.
The stolen work has been reported to an international database of stolen and missing art works known as the Art Loss Register (click here to read our previous post on the ALR).
Art Miami is recognized as the best-known satellite fair to Art Basel Miami Beach, which recently wrapped up this past weekend.