08 February 2008 - 19H33

Two Picasso paintings stolen in Switzerland
Two oil paintings by Pablo Picasso, dating back to 1962 and 1944 and worth nearly 3.1 million euros, have been stolen from a museum in eastern Switzerland, police sources said Friday.

Two paintings by Pablo Picasso worth nearly five million Swiss francs (4.5 million dollars, 3.1 million euros) have been stolen from a museum in eastern Switzerland, police sources said on Friday.
   
The two oil paintings, "Tete de Cheval" from 1962 and "Verre et pichet" from 1944, were stolen on Wednesday evening from a cultural centre in the eastern town of Pfaeffikon, police said.
   
Police said the circumstances surrounding the theft were still unclear, but that the thieves managed to leave the building around 7:00 pm local time (1800 GMT).
   
The security alarm was set off as they left the museum, and guards noticed shortly afterwards that the paintings were missing.
   
The two paintings, one showing a typically stark horse's head in blues, greys and whites and the other a still life of a glass and pitcher in red and green, belong to the Sprengel museum in Hanover, Germany.
   
The museum has offered an unspecified reward for the paintings' safe return.

Close