The same album with original images from the “Jazz” series by French artist Henri Matisse, copies of which were stolen this Sunday (7) by armed criminals from the Mário de Andrade municipal library, in the center of São Paulo, had already been stolen from the municipal collection. Acquired in the late 1940s, the illustrations had been in the library’s possession for ten years.
The exact date of the flight is not known. The images, which were supposed to be in the municipal library of São Paulo, were found at the end of 2006 by the Argentine federal police. The work was part of a batch of around 60 rare books which, according to information at the time, had been stolen from several Brazilian institutions.
The thieves were trying to cross the border into Argentina at Foz do Iguaçu (PR) when they were stopped by neighboring customs authorities. The PF reported, at the time, that “Jazz” was, by far, the most expensive piece of all the works seized.
The Mário de Andrade Library kept the false version for six years in its collection, even lending it to an exhibition in honor of Matisse at the São Paulo State Pinacoteca, in 2009, shows a text published by Leaf in 2015.
Matisse’s book was not returned to the São Paulo collection until around nine years after the seizure. First, it remained in the possession of the Argentine authorities for approximately five years. It was only in 2011 that the entire batch was expelled from the neighboring country by delegate Fabio Scliar, of the Federal Police.
It was not until the following year that the original version of “Jazz” was discovered among the seized material. After being informed by the PF, the Mário de Andrade Library initially claimed that the original Matisses were in its collection and rejected the idea that they had been stolen.
An expertise of the works proved that those found at the border were the originals, and that those which remained for years in the library collection were “gross” counterfeits, according to the PF at the time.
From 2011 to 2015, the album was deposited at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Rio. In August 2015, Luiz Armando Bagolin, then director of Mário de Andrade, personally removed the work and brought it back to São Paulo.
This happened after an impasse in which the PF and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office were reluctant to return the collection. Despite suspicions that library employees may have collaborated in the theft, nothing has been proven.
The “Jazz” paintings were the highlight of an exhibition celebrating the centenary of the São Paulo library. The exhibition was on its last day.
The series marked an important step in the process of institutionalization of modern art in São Paulo. The acquisition of the work was the starting point of the process that led to the creation of the MAM-SP (Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo). The exhibition even recalled the historical link between the two institutions
How did the flight go?
Two armed men invaded the library, located in the Consolação neighborhood, in the central region of São Paulo, around 10:15 a.m. this Sunday (7). Armed, one of the criminals announced the theft by showing the weapon under his blouse to one of the library security guards, who was not carrying a weapon.
She was taken to a room where she was forced to hand over her radio and cell phone. Meanwhile, the other suspect removed the eight paintings from the wall. There were no reported casualties or gunshots.
The suspects fled towards the Anhangabaú metro, according to the company. One of the robbers was wearing worn jeans and a red shirt. The other was wearing jeans, a blue sweatshirt and a blue cap.
At the time of the theft, the library was open to the public. This Sunday was the last day of the exhibition which brings together rare books and works from the 40s and 50s and photographs illustrating the country’s modern production.
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