Major Art Thefts in Europe

Somewhere in the world today there is a person, or group of people who have some pretty amazing loot in their hot little hands. Within the last month there have been two spectacular art thefts in Europe, and famous, irreplacable works by Picasso, Monet, Cezanne, Degas and Van Gogh have vanished.

The lastest happened just yesterday at the Emil Buehrle in Switzerland. A gang of three thieves threatened guards with guns before seizing the works. This latest theft is considered to be one of the world's biggest art thefts in the last 20 years. Two days earlier near Zurich, two Picasso paintings were heisted.

The police themselves have called the thefts "spectacular" as the small group of armed men grabbed the paintings and shaved them into a white vehicle parked just outside the museum.

The paintings stolen include Poppies near Vetheuil, by Claude Monet, Count Lepic and his Daughters, by Edgar Degas, Chestnut in Bloom, by Vincent Van Gogh, Boy in a Red Jacket, by Paul Cezanne, Head of Horse and Glass and Pitcher by Picasso.

Picasso's Weeping Woman- Dora Maar

Dora Maar is usually depicted as a fragmented, sharp-toothed, tortured soul in the paintings of Picasso. And maybe she was. When they first met in the Café Les Deux Magots in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, Picasso was attracted by her classic beauty, and by the fact that she sat, smiling, cutting her fingers and the table at which she sat. Picasso was so moved by her bizarre behavior that he kept her bloody gloves and exhibited them on a shelf in his apartment.


This meeting was the beginning of a nine year relationship between the two artists, and some of Picasso’s most memorable, if not disturbing work. When they were first together they inspired each other to create beautiful work-her in photography, and him with such great images as Guernica (inspired by the devastating bombing of the town by the Fascists). As their love began to sour and Maars mental state to deteriorate against the rocks of Picasso’s sadistic indifference he created the Weeping women series-featuring of course, his lover Dora Maar.

Dora kept all of his paintings of her for herself until her death in 1997 at the age of 90. They were souvenirs for their extraordinary love affair which made her famous forever. For him she was the "woman in tears" in many aspects. She suffered from his moods during their love affair. Picasso sent Dora to his friend, the psychiatrist Jacques Lacan, who treated her with psychoanalysis. Also she hated the idea that in 1943 he jilted her for a new lover, Francoise Gilot (mother of Paloma).

In Paris, still occupied by the Germans, Picasso left to her a drawing of 1915 as a good-bye gift in April 1944; it represents Max Jacob his close friend who had just died in the transit camp of Drancy after his arrest by the Nazis. He also left to her some still lifes, and a house at Ménerbes in Provence-which he had received in exchange for one of his paintings. She hated the house, and while it was his gift to her, Picasso and Francoise lived there for a time in spite of her.

But there was a time when he loved her in a way that only Picasso could love a woman. She was his “secret muse” and as usual it came through in his work. It is not often we are able to see these rare pieces when their love was new and Picasso portrayed her as a beauty rather than a harpy. Currently, Sotheby’s is releasing images of Tete de femme, Dora dated from 1941. This bronze sculpture depicts her sans the tears and jagged teeth, without the gnashing claws and red gaping mouth. Tete de femme, Dora is almost sanguine and serene-her wide eyes, softly curving ears and tiny rosebud mouth. Sotheby’s expects the piece to sell for $20 to $30 million dollars.

Ah, to have all the money in the world. Lets just hope that whomever does buy the piece doesn’t lock it away in their private collection. It would truly be a shame not to be able to view this piece beside the Weeping women and gain perspective on the woman who gave Picasso so much inspiration.