Pablo Picasso enjoys the unfortunate distinction of being the artist with the “Most Stolen Art” in the world. Lucky for France, recently a long lost Picasso was found in NYC and is slated to be returned to the French government.
Found in a mysterious package from Belgium, labeled as a Christmas gift worth a mere 20-30£ (the equivalent of $37 USD), the work surfaced in NYC last month. The painting (c. 1911) known as “La Coiffeuse” or “The Hairdresser” was originally exhibited at the Musee National d’Art Moderne collection in Paris. After returning to France from a museum in Germany, where it was on loan, the painting eventually ended up in a storage room in Centre George Pompidou. The painting is reported to be valued well over $2.5 M, which was the painting’s value in 2001 when it went missing from the Pompidou.
Interestingly, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division, which is not just border patrolling for safety concerns, assisted in the work’s recovery. Lucky for art lovers, HIS is a division that has been active in the recovery of other Picasso’s and countless other cultural treasures.