Swiss prosecutors have confirmed that two paintings by Pablo Picasso discovered earlier this month in Serbia were those stolen from a cultural centre in canton Schwyz in 2008.
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The Schwyz cantonal prosecutor’s office said on Friday tests had confirmed the authenticity of the two works, “Tete de cheval” painted in 1962 and “Verre et Pichet” from 1944.
Both are in good condition and in the process of being returned to Switzerland. Investigations into who stole the paintings are continuing, the prosecutor’s office said.
The paintings were on loan from the Sprengel Museum in Hannover, Germany, when they were stolen in February 2008 along with other works from the Seedamm cultural centre in Pfäffikon, near Zurich.
Together, the two paintings are believed to be worth around SFr4.8 million ($5.56 million).
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Two stolen Picassos located in Serbia
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SF cited a Swiss prosecutor saying the oil paintings, stolen from an exhibition in the town of Pfäffikon, near Zurich, in February 2008, were in a safe location. Schwyz cantonal prosecutor Charles Faessler told SF on Friday that Switzerland had submitted a request to Serbia for the paintings to be returned. He provided no information…
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The oil paintings vanished on Wednesday evening after closing time at the Seedamm culture centre in Pfäffikon, canton Schwyz. Police are still not sure how the thieves got into the building, but they set off an alarm as they left. The 1962 “Tête de cheval” (Horse’s head) and the 1944 “Verre et pichet” (Glass and…
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Cologne-based art detective Ingrid Blom-Böer is one of those working on the case. She spoke to swissinfo about her job tracking down stolen art. Blom-Böer works for the Art Loss Register, which operates a permanent international database of stolen and missing works of art, antiques and valuables. It is a booming sector estimated to be…
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The four works were stolen in broad daylight on Sunday from the private museum, the Bührle Collection. It was the biggest robbery of its kind in Switzerland – and one of the largest committed anywhere. The three masked men who entered the building housing the valuable collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art are still at…
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The first retrospective was held in the city in 1932, with the artist choosing his own pictures. In 2010, the Kunsthaus Zurich is showing 70 of these works again, as part of its centenary celebrations.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.