Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Picasso vs. Mona Lisa

April 15, 2009 by Marion Maneker

The Times of London runs an excerpt from R.A. Scotti’s book on the Mona Lisa’s theft at the beginning of the 20th Century. Here he tells the somewhat hilarious story of how Picasso and Guillaume Apollinaire were implicated in the crime:

Apollinaire and the artist were leaders of a group loosely known as la bande de Picasso. Familiar from Montmartre to Manhattan as the “Wild Men of Paris”, Picasso’s gang of painters and poets were the outlaws of traditional art. Young, brilliant and ruthlessly ambitious, they strutted through the cobblestone streets of Montmartre and filled the cheap cafes, defining themselves as well as a new creative idiom, breaking the rules to free art from art history.

After two frustrating weeks, Lépine believed he had cracked the case. In la bande de Picasso, he had found the international ring of art thieves he had been hunting.

To the police, the case was persuasive.

Seizing the Mona Lisa was an insolent act in what Apollinaire called “the endless quarrel between Order and Adventure”. It was a declaration of independence.

The Story Behind the Theft of the Mona Lisa (Times of London)

Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of the Mona Lisa (Amazon)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Saatchi's Eye for SculptureSaatchi's Eye for Sculpture
  • Ullens Chinese Contemporary Sale: 5x to 10x Estimates?Ullens Chinese Contemporary Sale: 5x to 10x Estimates?
  • March Is the Cruelest Month for GalleristsMarch Is the Cruelest Month for Gallerists
  • Understanding the International Jewelry MarketUnderstanding the International Jewelry Market
  • Insurers Wary of Risk at FairsInsurers Wary of Risk at Fairs
  • The Spurious Science of the Art Price Gender GapThe Spurious Science of the Art Price Gender Gap

Filed Under: Artists

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor