The latest

São Paulo state civil police have recovered eight Henri Matisse works more than eight months after armed robbers seized them from the Mário de Andrade Library. Officers found the pieces on 13 August in an apartment in São Bernardo do Campo, within the São Paulo metropolitan area, and they have been returned to the library. Five works by Brazilian artist Candido Portinari stolen in the same raid remain missing; police suspect they may already have been sold.

Details

• Discovery and arrest: A man at the apartment was arrested on suspicion of storing the works for the alleged mastermind of the theft. Police also recovered a firearm. The eight Matisse pieces are collectively valued at more than $190,000, making their return the principal recovery so far from the 13-work haul.
• Daylight robbery: The theft occurred on the morning of 7 December 2025, the final day of a temporary exhibition at the library. Two armed men overpowered a security guard and a couple visiting the show, placed the 13 works in a canvas bag and escaped through the main entrance. Security footage helped trace their route and led to the first arrest the following day.
• Investigation expands: Federal police arrested two key suspects in Rio de Janeiro in April during a separate art-theft investigation, identifying one as the alleged mastermind of the library robbery. A month later, police conducted 11 raids across São Paulo, São Bernardo do Campo, Diadema and Rio de Janeiro, targeting suspect-linked properties and businesses connected to art auctions and sales.
• Organised operation: Police described a structured group using advance planning and divided responsibilities to steal, handle and place cultural property on the illicit art market. The unresolved part of the case centres on the five Portinari works that were not found with the recovered Matisse pieces.
• Rare Jazz works: 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 belong to Jazz, Matisse’s celebrated 1947 artist book, held in the library’s rare-books collection. The volume was central to an exhibition exploring Brazilian modernism during the 1940s and 1950s.
• Heritage response: MAM São Paulo chief curator Cauê Alves called the recovery important for the city’s cultural heritage and the preservation of public art collections. The museum helped organise the exhibition but does not own the works. São Paulo authorities tightened security at the library after the robbery.

Background

The Mário de Andrade Library marked its centenary in 2025. Brazil’s second-largest public library, it holds around 1.38 million items and maintains the rare-books collection to which the recovered Matisse volume belongs.

What’s next

The next indicator in the investigation will be the recovery or attempted sale of any of the five missing Portinari works.