Paris Museum of Modern Art Heist

Caught this story this morning: The Paris Museum of Modern Art was robbed last night by a single intruder, who removed 5 major works from their frames. He appears to have broken in by disabling the security system, cutting through a padlock and then entering through a broken window. The night guards apparently heard and saw nothing, because the man escaped with a million euros worth of stolen art:

-Le pigeon aux petits-pois, a Cubist oil painting by Pablo Picasso.

-La Pastorale, an oil painting by Henri Matisse.

-L'olivier pres de l'Estaque by Georges Braque.

-La femme a l'eventail by Amedeo Modigliani.

-Nature-mort aux chandeliers by Fernand Leger.

Experts say this may be one of the biggest art heists ever, given the combined value of the works and the prominence of the museum, one of the most well-attended art museums in Paris. However, the paintings are, as Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr (director of the Palais de Tokyo) observed, "un-sellable" because they are so high profile.

I'm particularly interested in the fact that the paintings were not cut from their frames, as in many art heists in which the thieves don't really understand the value of the works they're stealing. That the frames were carefully disassembled and the works removed without damage indicates that the heist was carried out by more art-savvy thieves. It will be interesting to see if (and where) these works turn up, though I hope they are returned to their rightful places on the walls of the Paris Museum of Modern Art.

UPDATE: Check out this article on The Economist, about the art black market, the problem of art crime, and the possible fates of the stolen works.