Eight works by Henri Matisse that were stolen during an armed robbery at the Mário de Andrade Library in São Paulo last December have been recovered by the state’s civil police. The works, from Matisse’s celebrated 1947 book Jazz, have already been returned to the library. But the recovery is only partial: five works by the Brazilian artist Candido Portinari taken in the same heist remain missing, and police suspect they may already have been sold, the São Paulo State Public Security Secretariat said in a statement to The Art Newspaper.
Police found the works on 13 August in an apartment in São Bernardo do Campo, part of the São Paulo metropolitan area. A man there was arrested on suspicion of storing them for the alleged mastermind behind the theft. Police also found a firearm at the apartment. The eight works are valued at more than $190,000.
The robbery took place on 7 December 2025, the final day of the temporary exhibition Do livro ao museu: MAM São Paulo e a Biblioteca Mário de Andrade. That morning, two armed men entered the library, overpowered a security guard and a couple visiting the exhibition, put the 13 works in a canvas bag and fled through the main entrance. Security footage helped police trace their escape and led to the first arrest the next day.
The investigation continued over the next several months. In April, federal police in Rio de Janeiro arrested two key suspects in a separate investigation involving art theft; one was identified as the alleged mastermind of the library heist. A month later, police carried out 11 raids in São Paulo, São Bernardo do Campo, Diadema and Rio de Janeiro, targeting properties linked to suspects as well as businesses connected to art auctions and sales.
The Matisse works on display last year Courtesy Prefeitura de São Paulo, MAM São Paulo and Biblioteca Mário de Andrade
According to the police statement: “The group operated in a structured way, with advance planning and a division of tasks to steal, handle and ultimately place cultural property on the illicit art market.”
The recovered works are Le clown, Le cirque, Monsieur Loyal, Cauchemar de l’éléphant blanc, Les codomas, La nageuse dans l’aquarium, L’avaleur de sabres and Le cowboy. All eight are part of Jazz, one of Matisse’s most celebrated artist books. Published in 1947, the volume belonged to the Mário de Andrade Library’s rare books collection.
Jazz was also a key work in the exhibition from which it was stolen. Organised with the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (Mam São Paulo) and curated by Cauê Alves and Pedro Nery, the show explored the development of Brazilian modernism in the 1940s and 50s.
While the works are not part of Mam São Paulo’s collection, the museum welcomed their retrieval. “The recovery of these works by Henri Matisse is an important moment for São Paulo’s cultural heritage and for the preservation of its public art collections,” Cauê Alves, the chief curator of Mam São Paulo, tells The Art Newspaper. “Beyond the return of eight significant works to the Mário de Andrade Library, it reinforces the importance of safeguarding and valuing Brazil’s cultural heritage.”
The Mário de Andrade Library, which marked its centenary in 2025, is Brazil’s second-largest public library and holds around 1.38 million items. After the theft, the city tightened security at the library.
