Brazilian Police Recover Eight Stolen Matisse Prints

Brazilian authorities have recovered eight prints by French artist Henri Matisse that were stolen from a São Paulo library in December 2025. The works, part of Matisse's iconic 1947 "Jazz" series, were found in an apartment in the São Paulo suburb of São Bernardo do Campo on Thursday, August 13, 2026.

The recovery marks a significant development in the case of the December 7, 2025, heist at the Mário de Andrade Library, São Paulo's largest. During public hours, two armed men overpowered a security guard and two visitors before fleeing with the eight Matisse prints and five paintings by Brazilian modernist Candido Portinari. Security footage showed the thieves carrying the works through the city streets.

Police tracked the Matisse pieces to the apartment, where they arrested a 44-year-old man on suspicion of receiving stolen goods and illegal weapon possession. The suspect is alleged to have stored the artworks for the organizer of the crime. The suspected mastermind, identified as Laéssio Rodrigues de Oliveira, a 53-year-old described by authorities as a prolific art thief, was arrested in April in connection with a separate case. Two other suspects, a man and a woman, were also...