An Antwerp Basement
In 2010, two paintings were stolen from the home of a wealthy private art collector. They would remain missing for the next 14 years.
2010
In February 2010, in Tel Aviv, the Herzikovich family had two precious paintings stolen from their home, from their personal collection. The paintings were Tête by Pablo Picasso and L’Homme en Prière by Marc Chagall. Both famous painters with vast collections in museums and galleries around the world.
At the time of the robbery, the two paintings were estimated to be worth $900,000 together. As part of the same raid on the home $680,000 of jewelry was stolen from a safe, which has never been recovered.
2022-2024
Investigators were of course called immediately but there wasn’t much movement on the case initially. Then, after more than a decade of searching, the Belgian Police received a tip-off that an art dealer in Namur, the capital of Wallonia, Belgium, was offering these two paintings for sale.
An investigation was launched into the suspect, a 68-year-old Israeli watch dealer, and that led police to his residence in Namur. They conducted an extensive search of the house and they found suspiciously large amounts of cash but there was no sign of the two missing paintings, or any of the stolen jewelry.
The police questioned this suspect, referred to as Daniel Z, and his wife and they finally confessed to having the paintings but they refused to disclose their location. Belgian officials said, “investigations throughout 2023 confirmed the suspect indeed had the sought-after artworks and might keep them either at his residence or with an acquaintance” (Dubreil, 2024).
Two days later, the police widened their search to nearby Antwerp where they searched a building previously inhabited by an art dealership that had links to stolen art pieces in the past. In the basement of this house they located two wooden boxes, nailed shut. Once they pried them open they found Tête by Pablo Picasso and L’Homme en Prière by Marc Chagall both in their original frames and seemingly unharmed.
Daniel Z was subsequently arrested and charged with receiving the stolen paintings. However, the individuals who carried out the crime and the jewelry have never been located.
Works Cited
Binswanger, Julia. “Picasso and Chagall Paintings Found in Antwerp Basement - 14 Years After They Vanished”. Smithsonian Magazine. 2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/stolen-picasso-and-chagall-paintings-valued-at-900000-found-in-an-antwerp-basement-180983622/
Dubreil, Jean. “Lost Artworks by Picasso and Chagall Unearthed in Belgian Cellar, Ending a 14-Year Mystery”. Art Majeur Magazine. 2024. https://www.artmajeur.com/en/magazine/2-art-news/lost-artworks-by-picasso-and-chagall-unearthed-in-belgian-cellar-ending-a-14-year-mystery/334864
Oltermann, Philip. “Stolen Chagall and Picasso Artworks Found in Antwerp Basement”. The Guardian. 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/17/stolen-chagall-and-picasso-artworks-found-in-antwerp-basement
Solomon, Tessa. “Stolen Picasso, Chagall Painting Found In Antwerp Basement After 14 Years”. Art News. 2024. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/stolen-picasso-chagall-paintings-found-antwerp-basement-1234693259/