the theft at the Mário de Andrade library warns of the risks in museums

• “They just wanted the artwork.”: A guard captured by a thief recounts the details of the library theft
• Matisse and Portinari: the series stolen from São Paulo are milestones of Brazilian and global modernism

The case, which has mobilized the capital’s police and has so far led to the arrest of one of the suspects, Felipe dos Santos Fernandes Quadra, aged 31, warns of the risks to which museums and cultural centers are exposed and the measures necessary to avoid them.

The Mário de Andrade Library itself has been the target of print thefts in the past. In June 2024, the Federal Police announced the recovery of rare works stolen from the institution in 2008, including illustrations from the book “Souvenirs de Rio de Janeiro” (1836), by the Swiss Johann Jacob Steinmann. In 2006, the same copy of “Jazz” from which part of the plates had been extracted was found in Argentina. The publication, which was allegedly picked up by an employee taking advantage of the work at the site, was sent to Brazil in 2011 and sent for review to the National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA) by the delegate in charge of the file, Fábio Scliar.

The book would only return to the São Paulo institution years later, under the direction of a new director, curator and professor at USP Luiz Armando Bagolin. Upon taking office in 2013, he learned that forensic experts had identified the copy of “Jazz” as belonging to the BMA, but, contacted by the PF, the institution denied the loss, claiming that the book was in its possession. A security warrant was issued to seize the album in São Paulo and transmit it to the MNBA, where forensic examination determined that it was a fake.

— I met the delegate in Rio and he told me that he could not authorize the return until it was proven that the security conditions were met there. I agreed with him and looked for resources to make the changes — explains Bagolin, who headed the BMA until 2016. — There was no video circuit or presence sensor. The premises where the works were stored were locked with common padlocks, we replaced them with doors with electronic sensors, in which the employee is identified using his password to access them. In August 2015, I was able to travel to Rio to pick up the album.

The historical value and rarity of the works are part of the parameters of their market value. “Jazz” is considered one of the most important artists’ books published in the 20th century, a reference in the technique of decoupage (cut paper), developed by Matisse to continue working after health problems prevented him from painting while standing. In April, the book was the highlight of Christie’s “Prints and Multiples” auction, selling for US$504,000 (R$2.7 million), 68% above the minimum estimate of US$300,000.

Portinari’s prints were created for the Society of One Hundred Bibliophiles of Brazil, a luxury publishing project founded in the 1940s by industrialist and patron Raymundo de Castro Maya. The proposal was to publish works illustrated by great national artists: in addition to “Menino de ingenio”, Portinari signed the images of “O alienista” and “Memorias posthumas de Brás Cubas”, by Machado de Assis.

— Zé Lins do Rego and my father were very good friends. My mother prepared pasta that turned the evening upside down, and many writers were present, like him, Graciliano Ramos, Manuel Bandeira, Drummond, Jorge Amado — says João Candido Portinari, son of the modernist and creator of the project that bears his father’s name.

The prints signed by Portinari range between R$30,000 and R$50,000, according to an assessment by gallery owner and auctioneer James Acácio Lisboa, son of James Lisboa, one of the main names in art auctions.

— These values ​​concern works with provenance. The way they were taken, there is no market in Brazil. When arriving in countries like China and Russia, control is more difficult. But even then, I don’t know if anyone would buy the prints in bulk — comments Lisboa, director of Galeria Frente in São Paulo. — It seems to me to be a more amateur thing, to take that and then see what they could achieve with the works. I don’t believe it was at the request of a collector, for example.

Bagolin believes in the same possibility and regrets this new theft ten years after the recovery of the copy of “Jazz” by the institution.

— When I saw it in the media, I thought it was the previous flight. When I realized they were taking parts from “Jazz,” I felt really bad. I’m hypertensive, I even had to take extra medication for my blood pressure, says the former director. — It’s hard to see scoundrel thieves taking advantage of the fact that the room had only one guard, with no reinforcements to police the outside, and leaving with boards under their arms. No place in the world is 100% safe, we just saw the Louvre broken into like that, but we have to consider all possibilities.

The Department of Culture and Creative Economy of the municipality, to which the Mário de Andrade Library depends, sent a note on Wednesday evening (10) informing that the exhibition “was fully covered by All Risks insurance, the highest level of protection available on the market, contracted after a careful assessment of the security conditions of the exhibition space”. “The Library has a surveillance team and a camera system, the images of which have already been transmitted to the authorities responsible for the investigation. The exhibited works have also been protected by steel cables. In addition, the library has a structured security system and uninterrupted surveillance, with 84 security agents distributed between the main building and the Hemeroteca, in addition to 24 cameras in operation”, details the press release.

Regarding on-site security, the note emphasizes that “the Library has a structured security system and uninterrupted surveillance, with 84 guards distributed between the main building and the News Library, in addition to 24 cameras in operation. The Municipal Secretariat of Urban Security informs that the Metropolitan Civil Guard (GCM) carries out daily patrols to protect the building of the Mário de Andrade Library. equipment, which was done on Sunday (7). In light of what happened, patrols have been permanently reinforced. The report was unable to interview BMA director Rodrigo Massi until publication of this text.