PICASSO WORKS STOLEN FROM GRANDDAUGHTER’S HOME

At least two Picasso paintings, worth a total of nearly sixty-six million dollars, were stolen from the home of the artist’s granddaughter Diana Widmaier-Picasso in Paris, reports Jean-Pierre Verges for the Associated Press. The paintings, Maya a la poupee (Maya and the Doll), 1938, and Portrait de femme, Jacqueline (Portrait of Jacqueline), 1961, disappeared overnight Monday to Tuesday; there were signs of breaking and entering. Though police only mentioned the two paintings, the director of the Picasso Museum, Anne Baldassari, said several paintings and drawings were stolen from Widmaier-Picasso’s home in the seventh arrondissement. “It was a very large theft,” she said, without giving details. In 1989, thieves raided the home of another of Picasso’s granddaughters, Marina Picasso, taking twelve paintings worth $17 million at the time. All were later recovered.