Recovered Picasso Painting May Never Have Been Loaded Onto Transport Truck, Say Spanish Police

Spanish police have recovered Pablo Picasso’s “Still Life with Guitar”, a 1919 gouache and pencil painting valued at about €600,000, weeks after it disappeared en route from Madrid to Granada, but investigators now suspect it was never actually placed on the transport truck.

The artwork, owned by a private collector in Madrid, was scheduled to feature in a new exhibition at the CajaGranada Foundation.

However, when curators began unpacking the truck’s contents on October 6, they discovered the Picasso was missing, despite all other items being accounted for and monitored on video surveillance since their arrival three days earlier.

Police confirmed the painting’s recovery on Friday but declined to reveal where it was found. A statement from the National Police indicated that “initial investigations suggest that the painting may not have been loaded onto the transport truck.”

Authorities released images showing forensic experts examining the recovered package, while the CajaGranada Foundation expressed relief over the development and optimism that the painting could still join the exhibition, which opened on October 9 and runs until January 11.

Picasso’s works remain frequent targets of art theft because of their immense value.

Two of his paintings recently fetched over $140 million at auction. In 1976, more than 100 of his works were stolen from the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France, though all were later recovered.

Born in Málaga in 1881, Picasso is widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, whose legacy continues to attract both admiration and intrigue in the art world.