A masterpiece of Picasso, stolen on a yacht in 1999, arrives in Amsterdam

A Picasso stolen from the yacht of the Saudi businessman Abdul Mohsen Addulmalik al-Sheikh in 1999 and used as collateral by criminals was found by the Dutch art detective Arthur Brand.

Bust of a womanThe portrait of Dora Maar, Picasso's lover, painted just a year after Guernica in 1938, was a personal favorite of the artist who did not sign because it was never intended to be sold. He ended up at Pace Gallery in New York after his death, where the Sheik bought him for $ 4 million. It is now worth about $ 25 million.

In an interview with the Volkskrant brand, whose latest feat was to find two stolen Visigothic sculptures, he started tracking tracks about 'a ship and a Picasso' in 2015, but they came to nothing.

On the basis of a board of one of his judicial circuit informants, Brand came into contact with a businessman from the "Quote500", who told him that he had had the painting in her possession as a result of an agreement with "some people" with a story "cock and bull" that accompanies but who has "got rid of her"

According to Brand, the people he spoke to said that the painting was used as collateral in the Dutch criminal circuit since 2002. According to his contacts, the painting was hanging on the wall of another businessman who wanted it too.

"They do not go to the police." How will they explain the situation? They are afraid of being charged with theft. And then they come to me, "Brand told the newspaper.

Not a crime

In the event that the businessman gives back the canvas assuring him that the limitation period has elapsed for the theft and that a voluntary return would constitute a civil case and not a crime.

The painting, which, without being insured, spent a night on the wall of Brand's apartment in Amsterdam, is still in good condition.

"Two more years and it was another story. Their way of doing things was used, since in transactions it was stored in damp basements and car trunks. The colors would have disappeared and the canvas could break. But we were just in time, said Brand.

Brand told the newspaper that he had tried to contact the owner of the painting, but that he had not heard anything yet. "It's a shame because it's a bit of a miracle that it happened at all, I do not think the Sheikh ever hoped to applaud again."

The painting is now kept by an insurance company, who will decide what to do next.