Two armed men stole eight graphic works by French artist Henri Matisse and five by Brazilian artist Candido Portinari from a library in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo on the last day of an exhibition.
“They pointed their guns at a guard and an elderly couple,” police told AFP, adding, “Then the two men approached the glass case where the works were kept, put them in a cloth bag and left through the main entrance.”
According to local media, the robbers were identified by surveillance cameras and are now being sought by law enforcement agencies.
The graphic works were on display at an exhibition titled “From Book to Museum,” which was organized by the library and the São Paulo Museum of Contemporary Art (MAM). The exhibition, which opened in October and featured rare books and works from the 1940s and 1950s, closed that very Sunday.
