THIEVES MAKE OFF WITH PRECIOUS ART DURING CARNIVAL PARADE

Using the cover of Carnival crowds to make their escape, armed thieves burst into the Chacara do Ceu museum in Rio de Janeiro and walked off with works by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, and Dali, Agence France-Presse reports. Experts said the pieces were worth at least twenty million dollars and were among the most important in the museum’s collection. The artworks were Picasso’s The Dance and a book by him titled Toros; Monet’s Marine; Matisse’s Garden of Luxembourg; and Dali’s Two Balconies. The thieves relied on violence and speed and knew exactly what they were taking, said museum director Vera de Alencar. “Dali’s picture, for example, is the only one by him in public exhibition in Latin America,” she said.