Greek police recover stolen Picasso painting nine years later

Athens, Jun 29 (EFE).- Greek police recovered a Picasso painting stolen nine years ago in a heist at the National Gallery of Athens, Greece’s largest state art collection.

The Head of a Woman, a cubist painting gifted from Picasso to Greece in 1949, was found in a suburb of Athens Monday evening after police arrested a 49-year-old Greek man linked to the theft.

Another painting stolen in the heist, Stammar Windmill by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, was also found.

On January 9 2012, two men broke into the National Gallery of Athens and cut the paintings from their frames. The men were in and out within minutes.

Police have since been investigating the theft, and intensified the search in Greece after confirming the paintings had not been sold on the black market nor left the country.

The painting by Picasso would have been impossible to resell as the artist had written by hand: “For the Greek people, a tribute from Picasso” on the back of the canvas.

A sketch by Italian artist Guglielmo Caccia was also found but had been damaged in the heist. EFE

am/mp/lv