Armed Heist at São Paulo’s Mário de Andrade Library Nets 13 Matisse and Portinari Prints

Overview

• Two armed men overpowered staff during the exhibition’s final day, stole 13 prints, and fled toward the Anhangabaú metro, with no injuries reported.
• The haul includes eight Henri Matisse plates from his rare book Jazz, with works such as Le clown and Le cirque identified in the display.
• Five Candido Portinari illustrations came from the Menino de Engenho special 1959 edition linked to the Sociedade dos Cem Bibliófilos do Brasil.
• Exclusive TV Globo video shows a blue van and the suspects handling the stolen prints and placing some at a corner near Rua João Adolfo and Alfredo Gagliotti.
• Police are analyzing CCTV and conducting forensics, the city says the pieces are insured and patrols were reinforced, and investigators are pursuing the pair using Smart Sampa identifications with no arrests so far.