[MSN] 2 Picasso works stolen from Swiss exhibit

[MSN]

2 Picasso works stolen from Swiss exhibit: police
Last Updated: Thursday, February 7, 2008 | 2:54 PM ET
CBC News

Two paintings by Spanish master Pablo Picasso have been reported stolen from an exhibit in Switzerland, police announced on Thursday.

Thieves broke into a cultural centre in Pfaeffikon, near Zurich, on Wednesday night and removed two oil paintings: Tête de cheval and Verre et pichet.

A security alarm was set off when the culprits left the building, but police said in a statement that they have not yet apprehended anyone for the crime.

The two works had been on loan from Germany's Sprengel Museum for the exhibit at Pfaeffikon's Seedamm-Kulturzentrum. The display comprises about 20 original Picasso paintings and more than 150 other Picasso pieces, ranging from etchings to prints.

In the meantime, the Sprengel Museum, which is in Hannover, has offered an unspecified reward for information leading to the recovery of the two paintings and the arrest of the thieves.

The iconic and prolific Cubist master remains one of the most popular artists on the auction market, with several Picasso paintings ranking among the most expensive ever to cross the block.

The appetite for his oeuvre is also reflected in the fact that his paintings are among the top works targeted for theft around the world, including a recent attempt in Brazil in December.

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