Purported Picasso painting seized in Diyarbakır

DİYARBAKIR – Anadolu Agency

Turkish gendarmerie forces on March 8 seized a painting attributed to Pablo Picasso in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, according to the provincial governor’s office. 

Acting on a tip-off that three suspects were searching for a buyer to sell a historic painting, the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an anti-smuggling operation in the central Yenişehir district, the office said in a statement. 

The suspects were caught on the act by the gendarmerie forces, it added.

“During legal searches on people and their workplaces, the painting of a naked man and woman depicted on a papyrus paper was seized,” the office said. 

According to the statement, the canvas bore a faded remark back on it saying “the naked &killer” painting is a work “by Pablo Picasso and presented by us.” 

The painting carries the seal of the National Museum of Iraq on its back and a signature in the front believed to be Picasso’s. 

The statement also said five suspects, including the three trying to sell the painting, were arrested, while the art work was taken under protection.