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Suspect arrested in theft of Matisse artworks in Brazil: officials Estelle.Bronkhorst Tue, 12/09/2025 - 09:00 SAO PAULO - A suspect has been arrested in the theft of eight Henri Matisse artworks from a Sao Paolo library, Brazilian authorities said.The man was apprehended in central Sao Paolo after being identified following investigative work and analysis of security cameras that recorded the criminal act on Sunday, the government of the Brazilian state said in a statement. Earlier on Monday, police said they had identified one of two suspects behind the theft of the engravings by Matisse and found the robbers getaway car.A pair of gunmen stole the late French master s works, as well as five pieces by the Brazilian painter Candido Portinari, from the Mario de Andrade Library in the centre of the Brazilian mega-city.Police say the thieves held up a security guard and an elderly couple visiting the library, grabbed the engravings and other items from a glass dome where they were kept, put them in a canvas bag and fled through the main exit.Sao Paulo s security department said investigations were ongoing to identify the second suspect. The escape vehicle was also located and sent for forensic analysis, it said in a statement.Brazilian news site G1 aired a video apparently showing one of the thieves carrying several of the artworks through the street in broad daylight, then leaving them propped against a wall next to a pile of trash and running away.Sao Paulo has a sophisticated surveillance system that uses security cameras and facial recognition technology.Authorities have yet to disclose the value of the stolen pieces, which were part of a modern art exhibition entitled From the Book to the Museum, highlighting a collaboration between the library and the Museum of Modern Art of Sao Paulo.The theft came on the last day of the exhibit, which opened in October.

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