Indiana Jones Art World discovers Picasso painting 20 years after theft of a Saudi sailing yacht

A Dutchman, specializing in the search for missing works, discovered a painting by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso stolen 20 years ago.

Arthur Brand said the portrait was circulating in the criminal world in the Netherlands for years after his flight to a Saudi yacht in 1999.

The painting was painted in 1938 and is now estimated to be worth $ 28 million.

The painting depicts Dora Mar, Picasso's mistress and her inspiration for six years. The painting was hung in the artist 's house until his death in 1973.

The Brand name was published last year when a Byzantine mosaic dating back to 1600 years ago was stolen from a Cyprus church in the 1970s.

The brand also gained worldwide fame in 2015 when sculptor Joseph Thorac discovered two statues bearing the name "Hitler's Horses".

The media often portray Brand as "the world of Indiana Jones art" in reference to a series of films bearing the name of a fictional character from a world that traces archeological works lost.

Picasso's painting has been passed on by more than one person over the years, Brand told AFP, using "arms sales contracts over this period".

"Everyone thought it was ruined, which happens with 90% of the stolen paintings because they can not be sold," Brand told the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant. "He hung on the wall for a full night after finding and enjoying it.

How was it found?

Brand's search for the painting began in 2015 after he learned that Picasso's stolen painting was circulating among criminals in the Netherlands, but he did not know which panel was being talked about.

After several years of research, Brand discovered that the painting was a portrait of Dora Mar

Dura Mar, born in 1907, was Theodora Markovic, who had a relationship with Picasso between 1936 and 1943. She died in 1997 at the age of 89.

The painting was stolen from a luxury yacht belonging to a Saudi named Abdul Mohsin Abdul Malik al-Sheikh while the yacht was being renovated and maintained in a seaside resort in southern France.

If he knows the identity of the painting he is looking for, he addresses to people who would have bought him without knowing the substance of the problem, before obtaining a answer at the beginning of the month.

Brand told Agence France-Presse that he had received a call from representatives of a Dutch businessman telling him that the painting was in the possession of his client, who was very nervous because he thought the painting was legitimate, but it turned out that the agreement was not legitimate because of the payment method.

They then brought the painting to her apartment in Amsterdam, wrapped in a cardboard blanket and a few garbage bags.

French and Amsterdam police said they would not file a complaint against the last owner of the painting. Now in the possession of an insurance company, will decide what to do.