Picasso paintings stolen from private collection
About 30 artworks, including paintings by Pablo Picasso and Henri Rousseau, have been stolen from the home of a private collector in Provence, French police said today.
The theft was carried out while the owner was on holiday abroad and was discovered by a caretaker.
A police official said the value of the missing pictures was still unclear.
The owners were due to return home today, and were preparing to carry out an inventory.
An investigation is being carried out by officials in nearby Marseille as well as by France’s Central Office for the Fight against Traffic in Cultural Goods.
The theft comes two days after a drawing by Impressionist Edgar Degas was stolen from the Cantini Museum in Marseille.
The small pastel work, Les Choristes, (The Chorus Singers), dating back to 1876-77 and worth €800,000, was on loan from the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.
Officials said it was stolen overnight without setting off an alarm.
