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Brazilian authorities announced Monday the arrest of a man suspected of participating in the daring daytime theft of eight Henri Matisse engravings and five works by the celebrated Brazilian painter Candido Portinari from the Mario de Andrade Library, in one of the most significant art heists to strike the country in years.
The suspect was apprehended in central Sao Paulo less than 24 hours after the robbery. According to the Sao Paulo state government, officers identified him through security-camera footage collected from both the library and the city’s extensive monitoring system, which includes facial-recognition technology.
Authorities stated that the footage provided clear images of the suspects’ movements before and after the theft, enabling investigators to track one of them to a location in the downtown area. The man is now in custody, while police continue to search for the second suspect, who remains at large.
Officials added that the suspects’ getaway vehicle was located shortly after the crime and has since been transferred for forensic examination, where technicians are searching for fingerprints, DNA and additional evidence that could assist in identifying the remaining suspect.
The theft occurred during the closing day of From the Book to the Museum, an exhibition organized with the Museum of Modern Art of Sao Paulo. The targeted works included rare Matisse engravings from the 1947 limited-edition book "Jazz," of which only 300 copies exist worldwide.
According to authorities, two armed men threatened a security guard and an elderly couple before removing the pieces from a glass display dome. They placed the engravings, along with five works by Brazilian painter Candido Portinari, into a canvas bag and exited through the main entrance.
Shortly after the incident, Brazilian news outlet G1 released video apparently recorded by a passerby, showing one of the suspects walking through the street carrying several of the stolen works in his arms. At one point, he is seen placing the artworks against a wall beside a pile of trash before running from the scene.
Investigators are still analyzing the footage to determine whether the suspect intended to abandon the pieces or whether he was attempting to reduce suspicion by temporarily distancing himself from them.
Authorities have not confirmed whether any of the artworks have been recovered.
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