Lost and found: Picasso painting discovered in Madrid after exhibition transfer confusion

Art market thefts are talk of the town these days following the notorious heist of the Louvre museum but Spanish police appear to have solved a case that left detectives scratching their heads for weeks.

Earlier this month, a Picasso painting was reported missing from a Madrid storeroom, from where it was meant to be taken to Granada for an exhibition at the Centro Cultural CajaGranada.

'Still Life with a Guitar', a small framed gouache from 1919 was part of 56 other works destined for display after leaving its depot in the capital on 25 September. The transport operation was captured by video surveillance.

The entire consignment was delivered just over a week later, however detectives now say as the packaging was not properly numbered, it was impossible to carry out an exhaustive check without unpacking them.

CajaGranada Fundación explained that specific checks were carried out and the consignment notes were signed, with the complete unpacking pending until 6 October, the date scheduled for the inauguration. It was precisely on that day that the absence of the Picasso work was detected. A complaint was subsequently lodged with the National Police on 10 October.

Packaging problems

The National Police launched an extensive search and issued a missing alert for the painting on Interpol's international database of stolen or missing art objects, which contains descriptions and images of more than 57,000 items.

When that hunt failed to turn up any significant clues, investigators tasked with examining the delivery load found discrepancies with the packaging numbers which led them back to Madrid and the missing work.

Forensic police officers inspected the depot and finally confirmed that it was 'Still Life with Guitar'. The main police hypothesis, for now, is that the painting, valued at €600,000 may not have made it onto the transport lorry at source.