The CajaGranada Foundation has confirmed that Pablo Picasso’s “Still Life with Guitar,” recently recovered by Spanish police, may still feature in its ongoing exhibition in Granada despite its mysterious disappearance earlier this month.
The 1919 gouache and pencil work, valued at around 600,000 euros ($700,000), vanished while being transported from Madrid to Granada for the exhibition. The painting, owned by a private collector in Madrid, was discovered missing when the truck’s contents were unpacked on October 6.
In a statement on Friday, the National Police announced the recovery of the artwork but withheld details about where it was found. Preliminary investigations suggest that the painting may never have been loaded onto the transport truck in the first place.
“Initial investigations suggest that the painting may not have been loaded onto the transport truck,” the police said, noting that forensic experts had examined the recovered package containing the piece.
The CajaGranada Foundation, which had kept all items under continuous video surveillance since their arrival, expressed relief at the recovery and optimism that the piece could still be added to the exhibition, which opened on October 9 and runs until January 11.
Picasso’s artworks have frequently been targeted by thieves due to their high market value. Two of his paintings recently sold for over $140 million at auction, while more than 100 of his works stolen from the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France, in 1976 were later recovered.
Born in Malaga in 1881, Picasso remains one of the most influential figures in modern art, renowned for pioneering Cubism and reshaping 20th-century artistic expression.
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