Law enforcement in Brazil has successfully located eight stolen sketches by Henri Matisse. The illustrations, valued at approximately $200,000, were seized on Thursday from a residence in São Bernardo do Campo, a suburb south of São Paulo. A 44-year-old man was apprehended at the site.
The items were originally taken from the Biblioteca Mário de Andrade on December 7 of the previous year. Two individuals carried out the robbery, overpowering a security guard and two library visitors before fleeing on foot. While a suspect named João Paulo Linhares de Araujo is now in custody for allegedly holding the items, investigators believe the robbery was orchestrated by Laéssio Rodrigues de Oliveira, a man already imprisoned for other offenses.
Although the Matisse pieces have been returned to the library, five engravings by the Brazilian modernist Candido Portinari, taken in the same heist, remain missing. The stolen works were part of a temporary exhibition titled From Book to Museum. Local officials have since confirmed that library security measures have been strengthened following the incident.
