By IANS,
Rio de Janeiro : Two precious etchings by Pablo Picasso are among four works looted by gunmen from an Brazilian art gallery, EFE news agency reported Friday.
The heavily armed robbers stormed into a municipal art gallery Thursday, overpowered the guards present there, put the pictures inside a sack and calmly left the building located in the Luz neighbourhood in downtown Sao Paulo, the authorities said.
The robbery carried out in the broad daylight was also confirmed by the art gallery and the office of Sao Paulo’s culture secretary.
The police said among the stolen pieces were the etchings “El Pintor y su Modelo” (1963) and “Minotauro Bebedor y Mujeres” (1933) by Picasso.
The two other works stolen were the “Mujeres en la Ventana” (1926) by Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, one of the main and most highly valued modern Brazilian painters, and the watercolour “Casal” by Lithuanian-born naturalized Brazilian Lasar Segall.
This is the second important art theft in Brazil in recent months. Last December, thieves removed from Sao Paulo’s Museo de Arte works by Picasso and Brazilian Candido Portinari.