The São Paulo Civil Police identified on Sunday (7) one of the suspects involved in the theft of works of art from the Mário de Andrade municipal library, in Consolação, central region of the capital of São Paulo.
The identity of the suspect has not yet been released, but he appears on security camera footage carrying the books out of the library. The case is being investigated by the 1st Cerco (Specialized Center for the Repression of Crimes and Miscellaneous Facts).
The vehicle used in the escape was located, seized and sent for technical examination. Investigations are continuing to identify the second person involved and locate the stolen works.
The engravings produced are signed by the Frenchman Henri Matisse and the Brazilian Candido Portinari.
Part of the suspects’ escape was recorded by Smart Sampa cameras, the town hall’s surveillance program.
The footage shows the moment the men get out of a parked van and walk along Rua João Adolfo, near the library. They look to the side as if checking the movement around them.
In the video it can be seen that one of them, dressed in a light t-shirt, takes photos that were in the parked van and walks down the street. The other, dressed in dark clothing, gets out of the vehicle with something that looks like a piece of paper in his hand.
The man in the light t-shirt wears the greatest works. The footage shows him placing them on the ground, leaning against a wall and next to a pile of trash. Then he leaves in a hurry. Meanwhile, the other suspect, wearing a dark blouse, passes by and continues to advance.
Once part of the works is left on the ground, the images are interrupted and it is not possible to know whether they were rescued by someone or whether the suspect himself returned to look for them.
The robbery took place around 10 a.m. this Sunday (7). Two armed men took eight engravings by Matisse, which are part of the book “Jazz”, and five by Portinari, which illustrate the work “Menino de Engenho”, by José Lins do Rego, published in 1959 by the Sociedade dos Cem Bibliófilos do Brasil.
The stolen works were part of the exhibition “From Book to Museum: MAM São Paulo and the Mário de Andrade Library”, which addresses the formation of modern art in Brazil, with free entry and scheduled to close this Sunday.
The thieves captured a security guard, apparently unarmed, as well as a couple who were visiting the exhibition. They used a canvas bag to carry the artwork and fled through the main gate, heading towards the Anhangabaú metro.
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