Overview
- Eight works by Henri Matisse and five by Cândido Portinari were taken during public hours from the Biblioteca Mário de Andrade, and police opened an investigation after reviewing surveillance images.
- The thieves threatened a guard and two elderly visitors, removed pieces from walls and a glass display, and left through the main door.
- The stolen items were on view in “Del libro al museo,” a Biblioteca–MAM exhibition that opened in October and was scheduled to end that day.
- City officials have not released valuation or provenance details, and the Portinari pieces were illustrations from the 1959 book Menino de Engenho.
- Local reporting says some Matisse works may be collages from the rare 1947 Jazz album, a detail not confirmed by authorities.