Stolen Chagall, Picasso paintings found in Antwerp after 14 years

Paintings by Chagall and Picasso, stolen from a villa in Tel Aviv in 2010, were found 14 years later in the basement of a building near Antwerp in Belgium

Marc Chagall’s L’homme en priere (1971) and Pablo Picasso’s Tete (1970) were stolen from the Herzikovich family’s Tel Aviv villa in 2010 and found in the basement of a building near Antwerp after an international police chase.

After 14 years, the paintings were discovered in the basement of a building stored within two wooden boxes with securely screwed-on lids. This building has been associated with prior incidents of art theft. Only the paintings were taken from a safe that also housed jewelry during the initial theft.

Following a police pursuit of the suspect, identified as the Israeli luxury watch dealer “Daniel Z,” a substantial amount of money was seized along with the paintings during operations conducted on and after Jan. 10.

The paintings remained undamaged throughout these events.

Source: Newsroom