Stolen Matisse artworks recovered by police in Brazil

Eight Henri Matisse illustrations, stolen from a São Paulo library, have been recovered by Brazilian police. The artworks, estimated to be worth around $200,000, were taken on December 7th last year from Biblioteca Mário de Andrade. Two thieves overpowered a security guard and an elderly couple before fleeing with the paintings.

Three others were previously apprehended in connection with the theft. Five engravings by Brazilian artist Candido Portinari, also part of the robbery, remain missing. Police suspect the stolen pieces may have been sold. The arrested suspect, João Paulo Linhares de Araujo, is accused of storing the Matisse works for the accused thieves and of illegally possessing a firearm.

Art criminal Laéssio Rodrigues de Oliveira, 53, is believed to have planned and directed the crime. He has been in custody since April for another case. The recovered Matisse illustrations were part of a limited-edition art book, Jazz, along with the Portinari engravings created for José Lins do Rego's book Menino de engheno. The stolen artworks were part of an exhibition, From Book to Museum, which ended on the day of the robbery.

The thieves targeted the exhibition on its final day, entering the library by its main entrance and fleeing with the stolen items. The recovered Matisse pieces have been returned to the library, which has since improved its security measures. Matisse, a key figure of the 20th-century art world, is considered one of the century's most influential artists, with the value of the stolen works deemed "incalculable" by critics. Portinari, known for his depictions of rural laborers, is a significant Brazilian Modernist artist.