Brazilian Police Recover Matisse Works Stolen in 2025 São Paulo Heist

On August 13, 2026, Brazilian police arrested a man in a villa on the outskirts of São Paulo and recovered eight plates from Henri Matisse's album "Jazz" (1947), which had been stolen on December 7, 2025, from the Mario de Andrade Library in São Paulo. The plates, part of a limited edition of 250 signed copies, are valued at approximately $200,000. The theft occurred when two men overpowered a guard and stole the portfolio during an exhibition organized with the city's Museum of Modern Art. The same thieves also took five engravings by Brazilian painter Candido Portinari, which remain missing. The investigation, led by the First Central Unit for Crime Repression, identified Laéssio Rodrigues, considered Brazil's most prolific art thief, as the mastermind; he was arrested in April 2026 and is now in prison. The man arrested on August 13 has been charged with receiving stolen goods and illegal possession of a firearm. The recovery comes amid a rise in museum thefts in Brazil, with Interpol currently listing over 57,000 stolen artworks worldwide.