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Updated · WLS-TV · Aug 10Authenticator Confirms Stolen Picasso Print Worth Up to $50,000 Returned in Milwaukee
3 articles · Updated · WLS-TV · Aug 10Summary
- Thursday's authentication confirmed that a Picasso etching brought to Milwaukee police on Aug. 5 is the stolen "Trero 1949."
- A community member turned in the artwork, allowing police to verify the piece eight years after it disappeared.
- The original print was taken from a Milwaukee art gallery in 2018 and is valued at $35,000 to $50,000.
Insights
Why would someone steal a rare Picasso print only to leave it hidden and gathering dust in a vacant apartment for nearly a decade? An evicted tenant hid a stolen Picasso for eight years, but will an expired statute of limitations let the culprit walk completely free? After surviving eight years in a dusty apartment, who legally claims this $50,000 masterpiece if insurance already paid the gallery owner?