$85K Picasso Plate Goes Missing At Miami Art Festival
- 9 years ago
This year, a Miami Beach art fair attracted one very successful art thief, who managed to steal a Pablo Picasso silver plate valued at 85 thousand dollars.
The annual festival surrounding Art Basel Miami Beach draws thousands of collectors, artists, and vendors.
This year, it also attracted one very successful art thief, who managed to steal a Pablo Picasso silver plate valued at 85 thousand dollars.
The work was taken from a tent pitched at Art Miami of Midtown, one of Art Basel’s satellite fairs.
David Smith, the owner of the gallery offering the object, said it was the first time in his career he had a piece stolen.
It had gone missing at some point between when Smith closed up for the day on Thursday and returned to reopen his booth on Friday.
The police were called and an investigation is underway.
A 5 thousand dollar reward is being offered for its safe return.
According to Steve Schlackman, of the ‘Art Law Journal,' the odds that the work will appear again in mainstream art circles any time soon are not good.
If it does eventually surface, it will most likely have passed through several hands via the black market.
Also working against Smith is that the plate isn’t one of Picasso’s major works, and the resources dedicated to finding it will reflect that.
The annual festival surrounding Art Basel Miami Beach draws thousands of collectors, artists, and vendors.
This year, it also attracted one very successful art thief, who managed to steal a Pablo Picasso silver plate valued at 85 thousand dollars.
The work was taken from a tent pitched at Art Miami of Midtown, one of Art Basel’s satellite fairs.
David Smith, the owner of the gallery offering the object, said it was the first time in his career he had a piece stolen.
It had gone missing at some point between when Smith closed up for the day on Thursday and returned to reopen his booth on Friday.
The police were called and an investigation is underway.
A 5 thousand dollar reward is being offered for its safe return.
According to Steve Schlackman, of the ‘Art Law Journal,' the odds that the work will appear again in mainstream art circles any time soon are not good.
If it does eventually surface, it will most likely have passed through several hands via the black market.
Also working against Smith is that the plate isn’t one of Picasso’s major works, and the resources dedicated to finding it will reflect that.