“Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.”

Picasso’s “Maya With Doll”

Paris: Thieves have stolen two Picasso paintings with a combined value of more than US$50m from his granddaughters house. The paintings - Maya with Doll and one of his second wife Jacqueline - were taken from the home in Paris on Monday night. ~ Gulf News

It is surely not jealous artists who have stolen Picasso's paintings, but in all probability professional art thieves. “Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.”~ these words by Pablo Picasso and the sheer brilliance of his paintings prompt art lovers, to go to any extent to posses one of his original works. Picasso's work's rank among the most expensive paintings in the world. "Garçon à la pipe"- sold for USD $104 million at Sotheby's on May 4, 2004, establishing a new price record. (Wikipedia)

"According to the Art Loss Register, a major database of stolen and missing art, there are currently 444 missing Picasso pieces — a function of the artist’s prolific nature, in addition to his popularity, according to Antonia Kimbell, a staff member of the Register, speaking to The A.P.

Ms. Kimbell also addressed the age-old question, arising when art of such widespread familiarity is swiped: What kind of money can a thief expect to make, if everyone recognizes a piece as stolen? A pittance, Ms. Kimball suggested, if anything at all, on the black market. Buyers are afraid to touch them.

“It’s unlikely a legitimate dealer would purchase or acquire any of these pieces,” Kimbell said."
~The New York Times

"Give me a museum and I'll fill it." ~ Pablo Picasso

It has been estimated that Picasso produced about 13,500 paintings or designs, 100,000 prints or engravings, 34,000 book illustrations and 300 sculptures or ceramics. (Wikipedia)

I don't own any of my own paintings because a Picasso original costs several thousand dollars -- it's a luxury I can't afford. ~ Pablo Picasso

It is indeed a luxury which will have the Organized Crime Department of the French Police having a few sleepless nights as pressure mounts to find the art work reportedly valued at USD 65 Million.

When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk you'll end up as the pope.' Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso. ~ Pablo Picasso