Brazilian Police Discover $59.1 M. Stolen Painting Beneath Bed Amid Sprawling Investigation [View all]

[muriel_volestrangler]

Police in Brazil found a major work by Tarsila do Amaral, one of the country’s most important modern artists, beneath a bed on Wednesday during an investigation into a group of stolen artworks.

The do Amaral painting is said to be worth 300 million reias, or $59.1 million. It is one of 16 paintings that police said were pilfered during an operation that ultimately involved 709 million reias ($139 million) worth of art, not counting the jewelry and cash that were also stolen.

According to local police statements, the theft was the result of an extended con masterminded by the daughter of a woman in Rio de Janeiro. Infobae identified the mother as Genevieve Boghici, an 82-year-old woman that was once married to Jean Boghici, a late Brazilian dealer who amassed a significant collection.

Using a clairvoyant, the daughter, who was not named, allegedly made Boghici believe she was sick and compelled her to make a series of payments during the course of a kind of “spiritual work” treatment involving a purported Afro-Brazilian priestess, police said.

Police said that Boghici eventually became suspicious of their ruse, and when she tried to stop making payments, she was confined to her home, threatened, beaten, and ultimately robbed. While Boghici was out of the house, her daughter allegedly relied on the help of accomplices to steal the paintings. Police claimed that the daughter had fired domestic workers in order to ensure that the heist would be possible.

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/brazil-police-stolen-paintings-tarsila-do-amaral-1234636382/