Only a short distance from my home two thieves (caught on a surveillance camera) broke into Modern Masters Fine Arts Gallery
(Palm Desert, CA) and within two minutes had made off with Pablo Picasso's linoleum cut Femme Regardant par la Fenêtre and Marc Chagall's lithograph Twelve Maquettes of Stained Glass Windows forJerusalemm: The Tribe of Dan which mirrors one of the twelve stained-glass windows he created for Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.
One of the owner's of the gallery, Michael Gudelauski, said that the gallery had procured the two works of art in June of 2005, only 6 months ago. The two pieces are worth about $100,000.
A sporty late model Mercedes was seen in the area.
The works would be difficult to sell on the open market, art thefts are rather rare because of their high profile but thieves persist regardless. The more incredible theft of the 2.5 ton Henry Moore sculpture, Reclining Figure (1970), on December15th has experts reeling. Authorities say that a crane and a lorry (coincidentally a Mercedes) were used to abscond with the $5.3 million dollar sculpture.
Someone is getting some expensive Christmas gifts this year.
LM
