Brazilian police recovered eight stolen Henri Matisse engravings worth approximately $200,000 from a home in São Bernardo do Campo during a Thursday operation. The artworks had been targeted in a heist last year at São Paulo’s Mário de Andrade Library, where thieves overpowered a security guard and elderly visitors.
Law enforcement officers tracked the rare engravings to a residential property located in the southern suburb of São Bernardo do Campo, where a suspect was taken into custody.
The Heist at Mário de Andrade Library and Missing Portinari Works
The stolen engravings were part of a modern art exhibition highlighting a collaborative effort between the Mário de Andrade Library and the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo, as the outlet reported. During the 7 December raid last year, the thieves targeted a glass dome inside the Biblioteca Mário de Andrade.
According to investigative details uncovered by officials, the gang executed a highly structured operation. Two thieves physically overpowered a security guard and an elderly couple visiting the exhibition before grabbing the engravings and fleeing on foot through the main entrance.
While the eight Matisse pieces have been safely recovered, the thieves also made off with five works by the renowned Brazilian artist Candido Portinari. Police in São Paulo noted that those Portinari engravings remain missing, with investigators actively pursuing leads on the black market.
Arrests Target Alleged Mastermind and Storage Suspect
Thursday’s raid yielded the arrest of João Paulo Linhares de Araujo, a 44-year-old man suspected by police of storing the Matisse collection on behalf of the robbery’s orchestrators, alongside facing charges for illegal firearm possession. Law enforcement officials confirmed that the recovery operation took place at his residence.
Investigators believe the broader criminal network operated with specialized roles designed to steal and quickly liquidate cultural artifacts. The suspected mastermind behind the planning of the heist, identified as 53-year-old Laéssio Rodrigues de Oliveira, has been held in custody since April following an arrest tied to a separate criminal case.
Authorities noted that additional arrests, including another man and a woman, were secured earlier in the investigation as detectives unpicked the structured theft ring.
Valuation, Black Market Suspicions, and Next Steps
The recovered French modernist prints carry a combined estimated market value of about $200,000.
