From the Brazilian museum, valuable works by Picasso and Portinari have disappeared

Sao Paulo - The work of the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Suzanne Bloch, was stolen yesterday morning from the Museum of Art in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo. In addition to it, the painting O Lavrador de Café (The Coffee Grower) by Brazilian painter Cândido Portinari was also taken. According to agencies, the value of the stolen works is around 100 million dollars. Both canvases were among the most valuable pieces in the collection of the Sao Paulo museum.
The theft occurred around five o'clock in the morning local time (8:00 CET). The thieves entered the building through the main entrance and left with the loot in the same way when there was no guard at the entrance. Security cameras showed that the entire operation took them barely three minutes. They left behind only some tools. The police closed the museum.
The thieves are likely professionals - they knew exactly what they wanted to steal and where to find it, investigators stated. Picasso's painting from 1904 belongs to his so-called blue period. Portinari's painting from 1939 is one of his most famous works.
The museum is a modernist building and is considered one of the most beautiful in the largest Brazilian city. It is located on Avenida Paulista in the very financial center of the city.
The museum was already the target of "raids" by two thieves in October, but no works were taken then because the men managed to overpower the guard but did not reach the second floor where the collection is located.
The Sao Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) was opened in October 1947; its founder was the late millionaire Assis Chateaubriand, owner of a Brazilian media empire and a significant art collector.
Its collection, which was enriched with works that their owners brought from Europe during World War II, is considered one of the most important in the southern hemisphere overall.
Upon the opening of the museum's current building in November 1968, British Queen Elizabeth II was also present.