Stolen Picasso Found in Milwaukee Apartment After 8 Years

A stolen Picasso worth $50,000 has emerged from an eight-year mystery, discovered hanging in a Milwaukee apartment covered in dust.

The rare etching vanished in broad daylight from DeLind Fine Art Appraisals in February 2018. Cameras failed to catch the thief during the brief afternoon window when someone snatched it from a downtown lobby display case.

On August 5, a community member walked into Milwaukee police with the recovered artwork. A landlord had found it tucked away in a vacant apartment, still bearing its original gallery sticker on the back of the frame.

Gallery owner Bill DeLind authenticated the piece immediately. The black ink etching, signed by Picasso in green crayon, is the ninth copy in a limited run of 30 produced at the famous Mourlot Studio in Paris.

The theft made international headlines and landed the artwork in the FBI's National Stolen Art File. For six years, DeLind's late business partner Michael Goforth called police every anniversary of the crime to keep investigators searching.

Goforth passed away earlier this year, never knowing the piece would be found. His persistence kept the case alive even as leads dried up.

The Bright Side

While the six-year statute of limitations means no criminal charges can be filed, the artwork's safe return matters more than prosecution. DeLind now hopes to buy back the piece from the insurance company that paid the original claim and return it to public display.

The notoriety from its wild journey may actually increase the artwork's market value. Sometimes a story of loss and recovery makes art even more meaningful than it was before.

For Milwaukee's art community, the Picasso's homecoming closes a chapter that stayed open far too long. One landlord's discovery in a dusty apartment became the answer everyone had been waiting for.