[ad_1]
Arthur Brand said that he had made the 1938 masterpiece titled "Portrait Dora Maar ", also known as" Woman's Bust (Dora Maar) "to an insurance company earlier this month.
The discovery of the rare portrait of Maar, one of Pablo Picbado's most influential mistresses, is the culmination of a four-year investigation into the burglary of the luxury Coral Island yacht, while she was anchored in Antibes.
<! –
->
Two decades after his flight and without any indication of where he was, the French police was lost – and the portrait, which had been hanging in the house of the Spanish master until his death in 1973 , was to be feared to be lost forever.
But after a four-year run that went through the Dutch criminal mob, two middlemen came to the door of Amsterdam from Brand 10 days ago with the missing photo.
"They had the Picbado, valued at 25 million euros, wrapped in a sheet and black bags with them," Brand told AFP.
This is yet another success for Brand, who made headlines last year for restoring to Cyprus a stolen mosaic dating back to 1600 years ago.
He gained world renown in In 2015, after discovering "Hitler's Horses", two bronze statues of the Nazi sculptor Joseph Thorak – a discovery about which he had published a book earlier this month .
The robbery of the Picbado, valued at about seven million dollars at the time, the French police confused, sent the super-rich to hurry to update the safety of the boat and proposed a great reward.
In 2015, Brand heard that a "Picbado stolen from a boat" was touring the Netherlands. , although "at this stage I did not know which one ex
It turned out that the picture had entered the criminal circuit where he had been shooting for many years" often serving as a guarantee, appearing in a drug deal here, four years later, as part of a contract of arms sales, "
It took several years and some dead ends before determining that it was fine Picbado stole from Saudi billionaire Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Abdulmalik Al-Sheikh, while the mega-cruiser was being renovated, said Brand.
Brand announced in the street that he was looking for "Woman's Bust (Dora Maar)" and that he was hitting gold in early March.
"Two representatives of a Dutch businessman contacted me, claiming that their client had the painting. He was at the end of his troubles, "said Brand.
" He thought Picbado was part of a legitimate agreement. It turns out that the agreement was legitimate – the payment method was not, "said Brand laughing.
Brand called the Dutch police and the French police – who have closed the file – and who said not to sue the current owner …
"Since the initial robbery, the painting must have changed hands at least 10 times," said Brand.
Brand said that 39, he had to act quickly, otherwise the painting might have disappeared into the underworld.
"I told the middlemen that it is now or never, because the painting is probably in very bad condition … We must act as soon as we can. "
Then, a little over a week ago, Brand's bell rang at his modest apartment in Amsterdam and the middlemen were present with the painting.
After unpacking, "I hung the Picbado on my wall during a night, thus making my apartment one of the most expensive in Amsterdam for a day ". Brand laughed.
The next day, a Picbado expert from the Pace Gallery in New York arrived by plane in a high security warehouse in Amsterdam.
British detective Dick Ellis, founder of the Ecosia Yard Arts and Antiquities Brigade, also represented an anonymous insurance company.
The stolen Picbado, "told AFP Ellis, who now runs a London-based arts risk consulting firm.
Ellis is famous for finding many stolen works, including" The Scream "Edvard Munch, removed from the National Gallery of Norway in 1994.
" It is not only the public interest to recover stolen works of art ", a- he said. "You also reduce the amount of collateral that surround the black market and finance crime."
"Bust of Woman" is again in the possession of the insurance company, which now had to decide next steps, said Brand and Ellis.
[ad_2]
Source link
