The two paintings, together valued at approx. €826,000, were stolen from an art collector’s home in Tel Aviv in 2010.
ADVERTISEMENTA decade-long art heist has come to an end, after Belgian police found stolen Chagall and Picasso paintings in a basement in the city of Antwerp.
The paintings, Marc Chagall's "L’homme en prière" ("The Man in Prayer" – 1970) and Pablo Picasso's "Tête" ("Head" – 1971), were stolen from an art collector in Tel Aviv, Israel, in February 2010. Their combined worth is $900,000 (approx. €826,000).
At the time of the theft, $680,000 (€624,000) worth of jewellery was also stolen, but only the paintings have been found.
“Although the collector’s home was equipped with an efficient and sophisticated alarm system, the thieves managed to neutralise them and enter the empty home without being detected,” the prosecutor said. “After breaking into the safe containing the jewellery, they took only the paintings by Chagall and Picasso. The other paintings on display were not the subject of any attention from the thieves.”
Belgium’s federal judicial police, who had started an investigation when they were informed that a Belgian national was attempting to sell the paintings, said that the artworks are undamaged and still in their original frames.
The local prosecutor said the main suspect, described as a 68-year-old Israeli luxury watch dealer, has been arrested.
