Stolen Picasso and Chagall have been found in an Antwerp cellar after thirteen years

Two stolen paintings by Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall have been found in a cellar in Antwerp after more than thirteen years. The Namur federal police announced this on Tuesday.

These are two small paintings: Head (1971) by Picasso and Praying man (1970) by Chagall. The works of art were stolen in Tel Aviv in 2010, from a villa owned by the Israeli Herzikovich family. At the time, they had a combined value of $900,000, approximately 830,000 euros. The burglars also cracked a safe from which jewelry worth $680,000 disappeared. At the time, the Israeli police already expressed fear that the stolen paintings would disappear abroad.

At the end of 2022, the federal police heard that a man from Namur was offering a Picasso and a Chagall for sale. For months, police kept an eye on the suspect, a 68-year-old Israeli luxury watch dealer.

A search of the suspect's home last week only resulted in the discovery of a large amount of cash. The man admitted to having the paintings in his possession, but refused to say where he had stored them. The police found the paintings in a basement box at the suspect's old home address on Friday. The suspect has now been arrested on suspicion of stealing. It is unclear whether he was also involved in the burglary.

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