French Police Stumble Over a Picasso

I’ve often wondered and worried about the following scenario: law enforcement carries out a search warrant in a career criminal’s home looking for weapons or drugs or some other sort of evidence—but not stolen paintings. During their search, they pass by the stolen Gardner Museum art hidden in an attic or basement, unaware of what they have seen. It’s a very real possibility.

Recently, French police investigating a drug trafficker in Champigny-sur-Marne found all sorts of stolen goods, including designer clothes, and, of course, 37 pounds of cannabis. But the police were savvy enough to notice that a painting in possession of the criminals was a stolen Picasso worth tens of millions of dollars.

While the painting has been confirmed to be a Picasso, neither the Brigade des Stupéfiants—the officers who conducted the raid—nor the the Créteil Prosecutor's Office have released the name of the painting yet. However, it is widely believed to be Marie-Thérèse Walter, a portrait of Picasso's famous model, mistress, and "golden muse.”

While the recovery may have been a surprise, the M.O. is not. The painting was stolen by one of the four drug dealers arrested in the raid, and he was employed as a security guard at the Paris storage facility from which the painting was taken. Yes, yet another insider theft of a masterpiece.

It is heartening to know that there are police who know a masterpiece when they see one.