Pablo Picasso

Sad news comes from the Picasso Museum in central Paris. One of Pablo Picasso’s sketchbooks worth several million euros was stolen this week. The theft occurred overnight, but there was no sign that the museum had been broken into. The sketchbook was valued at 7 to 10 million Euros ($9.7 million-$13.9 million US).

This small book (approximately 6″ x 9″) contained 33 drawings by Picasso, mostly done in crayon and dating from 1917 to 1924. The stolen sketchbook is covered in shiny, red leather and bears the word “Album” in gold on the front, the Culture Ministry statement said.

It sounds like this type of piece would be quite difficult to sell, and so it’s surmised that this was a theft commissioned by an unscrupulous collector. Read more about the theft here.

This isn’t the only recent Picasso theft: two paintings by Picasso estimated to be worth a total of about $66 million were stolen from the Left Bank, Paris home of his granddaughter Diana Widmaier-Picasso in February 2007.