Five paintings stolen from the Paris Museum of Modern Art could be held for ransom, experts say, but it's unlikely that the thief or thieves would be able to sell them.
This painting by Georges Braque, Olive Tree near Estaque was among the five works stolen in the dead of night from the Paris Museum of Modern Art.
Masterpieces by Picasso and Matisse were among the paintings that disappeared overnight from the museum on the Seine River. The works are valued at more than $100 million; earlier estimates put their worth at more than a half-billion dollars.
French officials said Thursday that the museum's security system was disabled. The burglar evidently cut a padlock and broke a window to gain access to the building, then somehow managed to evade three night guards. Video from a surveillance camera reportedly shows a single masked intruder inside the museum.
In a week where Venus squares Jupiter, then squares Saturn and squares Uranus and is heading for an opposition with Pluto on Sunday----we should not be surprised that works of art would be stolen. However, the one thing that might be to the benefit of the art (not the thieves) is that Venus did have one nice trine to Neptune and apparently from all reports this artwork is so well known that it can not be sold anywhere. Except I suppose to russian oligarchs and Goldfinger.
I do like the candor of the police:
"These five paintings are unsellable, so thieves, sirs, you are imbeciles. Now return them. - Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr, director of the neighboring Palais de Tokyo
