Stolen Matisse works tied to book thief in Brazil

Phone logs of a notorious art and rare-book thief in Brazil proved to be the key for police to recover eight stolen engravings by famed French painter Henri Matisse after they were pilfered from a library exhibition in Sao Paulo in December last year.

The pieces from Matisse’s 1947 art book Jazz, valued at about US$200,000, were found at a home in the town of Sao Bernardo do Campo.

Brazilian authorities accused 53-year-old Laessio Rodrigues of masterminding the theft.

A former library science academic, Rodrigues has a criminal history with similar cases.

The works were stolen on Dec. 7 last year from the Mario de Andrade library in Sao Paulo, where they were part of an exhibition of rare books.

Police say the thieves overpowered a security guard and an elderly couple, grabbed the engravings and other items from a glass dome where they were kept, and fled.

“Laessio has already been convicted in other cases, he keeps going in and out of jail for stealing books and works of art,” said Ronald Quene, the Civil Police commissioner in charge of the investigation.

Rodrigues was arrested in April and is awaiting trial for multiple crimes, including the Matisse theft.

His notoriety is in part due to a 2017 Brazilian documentary about him, Cartas para um Ladrao de Livros (Letters to a Book Thief).

“He’s a narcissist who tells everyone that he’s the biggest art and rare-books thief in Brazil,” Quene said.

Shortly after the theft, police identified the two suspects with the use of surveillance cameras.

One was arrested and the second fled.

Further investigation of their communications revealed contact with Rodrigues.

“We found several audio recordings of Laessio coordinating the thefts with his accomplices,” Quene said. “There are conversations about everything: dividing the money, how much each person would get.”

The investigation led to the arrests of Rodrigues’ husband and a woman.

A forensic analysis of Rodrigues’ phone cracked the case of where the stolen artwork could be found.

Police searched a residence in Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo, and found the eight pieces in a closet.

Officers arrested a man who lived there, who told police he did not know the provenance of the pieces and that Rodrigues had asked him to keep them there.

In addition to the Matisse works, five illustrations by Brazilian artist Candido Portinari were also stolen and have yet to be recovered.

Quene said Rodrigues “studied library science so he could tell whether a book is valuable or not” and that he had earlier worked at the library where the theft occurred.

Rodrigues allegedly told his accomplices while preparing for the heist that he could not go in person because he was too well known.

The stolen engravings have already been returned to the library, according to Jose Silva Parente, Sao Paulo’s municipal secretary for culture.

Although they appear undamaged, the works are undergoing an analysis to ensure they are intact, he told reporters.