About 70 paintings stolen from gallery in Madrid

MADRID. Madrid police are looking for about 70 paintings worth a total of about 600,000 euros stolen from the Puerta de Alcalá art gallery by three men last Thursday night.

Thieves are believed to have entered the art gallery at 2:58 a.m., breaking a hole in the wall of a nearby bar. The bar’s premises were reported to be empty for about a year before the abduction, so all preparations for the theft could be carried out unnoticed.

“After the hole was made, one person entered the gallery, turned off the alarm and opened the door,” said Pedro Marquez, director of the gallery, adding that the thieves had enough time to take any exhibits as they wanted.

Currently, the exact list and cost of the stolen is determined by the gallery staff. In addition to the actual paintings, thieves stole documents on them, and now there is a real danger that the works can be completely legally sold to private galleries.

More information about the robbery was reported by one of the guards on duty that night at a nearby construction site.

Finding men carrying paintings across the street, a guard stopped them to ask what they were doing. The men explained that they are gallery employees and must transport art objects to another location. When asked why this should be done at night, the robbers explained that otherwise they would not have time to deliver them on time.

For forty years of work, such an incident took place for the first time. All the best paintings were stolen, mainly by Spanish artists of the early and mid-twentieth century. The theft thwarted preparations for several exhibitions, which now most likely will not take place.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru