Overview
- This week a Milwaukee landlord clearing a recently evicted apartment found a dust-covered framed print and, after an antique dealer identified it, turned the work over to police.
- Gallery owner Bill DeLind identified the piece as Picasso’s Torero (1949) by the artist’s signature and the original DeLind Fine Art Appraisals sticker on the back of the frame.
- Reports say the Milwaukee Police Department now holds the print while ownership and insurance claims are worked out, although at least one account says insurers have taken possession, creating conflicting custody claims.
- The theft from DeLind’s gallery occurred in 2018 and produced no suspects, and Wisconsin’s typical six-year statute of limitations for theft complicates prospects for criminal charges now that the print has resurfaced.
- Torero is a limited-edition etching of roughly 30 signed impressions appraised in 2018 at $35,000–$50,000, and the recovery is likely to affect insurance settlements, the work’s market value, and questions about how stolen art circulates.