They report the disappearance of a Picasso that was supposed to be displayed in Granada

A Picasso insured for 600,000 euros is being sought. The National Police are investigating the disappearance of the painting 'Still Life with Guitar' by the Malaga-born painter, which ... was supposed to be displayed in the exhibition 'Still Life. The Eternity of the Inanimate' at the CajaGranada Foundation, inaugurated last week in the city of Granada. The cultural center explained that upon unpacking the artworks for placement in various rooms, they noticed that one was missing. The exhibition opened on the scheduled day without it. It remains missing.

The National Police have taken over the investigation. Officially, the force only states that the case is open and no further details can be provided. However, this newspaper has learned, from sources close to the case, the versions of both the complainant and the company responsible for transporting the paintings. The first key date is September 25, when five technicians went to the property of the owner of the artworks, located in Madrid, to pack them and load them into two vans. The process, which lasted about an hour, was supervised by two curators of the exhibition, as well as by the owner—who left his residence for this purpose—and his niece.

At this point, apparently, two incidents occurred. They were numbered, but two paintings had the same number. The second incident was that at the last minute, an additional work was added to the agreed list of works at the request of the owner; the man believed this would make the collection more complete. Once all were packed, they were moved to the vans, theoretically always under surveillance.

They were then moved to the company's warehouse, located in Madrid, and stored in a chamber with exhaustive control measures, such as video surveillance and a security alarm that, according to the workers, did not go off at any time. In this type of exhibition, which features works from several owners, they are usually collected all in one place before their final joint transfer, which in this case took place just a week later, on Thursday, October 2. That day, they were loaded into a van that left for Granada at 16:00, but that day the works did not reach their destination, according to the same sources.

Apparently, there was a stop in the town of Deifontes around 20:30. The two company employees traveling to the Nasrid city took turns sleeping in the van that night. Supposedly, as the company explained, they did not lose sight of it either during dinner or breakfast.

Poorly Numbered Boxes

The next day, Friday, October 3, they headed to the CajaGranada Foundation. There, the material was unloaded in the presence of members of this organization, who noticed that the packaging was not correctly numbered. The missing Picasso had been assigned number 15. The head of exhibitions signed off on the delivery and completed the work, although a count of the paintings was not made at that time.

The artworks were stored that weekend in a space at the foundation monitored by cameras. These images are now in the possession of the National Police. It was the following Monday, October 6, when museum employees proceeded with the unpacking. When it came time to hang them, they realized that a small painting by Pablo Picasso from 1919 called 'Still Life with Guitar', painted in gouache and lead pencil on paper, was missing. Its insured value is approximately 600,000 euros.

The CajaGranada Foundation filed the corresponding complaint with the National Police. Sources from the cultural center assure IDEAL that one fewer work arrived than was listed, as they have verified in the camera footage. They suspect it was lost at some point from the time it left the owner's house until the van reached Granada. Furthermore, they emphasize that the list of paintings was "very poorly organized."