After 8 years, a rare Picasso watercolor stolen from a Milwaukee gallery in 2018 was found in an apartment that was being cleaned after the owner had vacated it.
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Bill DeLind believed the work would never be found until he received a call from Tim Dertz, who asked him to examine something discovered while the apartment was being cleaned.
As soon as he saw it, DeLind immediately identified the stolen “Torero,” one of 30 watercolors known to have been signed by Picasso.
“I was speechless and stunned. It was a shocking moment for me,” DeLind said.
The back of the work still bore a sticker from his company, DeLind Fine Art Appraisals, which had been affixed there in 2018.
“There was no doubt that it was the exact same work,” DeLind said.
In an email sent Friday, the Milwaukee Police Department said the statute of limitations for theft and property crimes is typically six years. However, the case remains under investigation. Caroline Clancy, a spokesperson for the FBI in Milwaukee, declined to comment.
According to DeLind, the watercolor was valued at between $35,000 and $50,000 in the year it was stolen. He believes its price has not changed significantly since then, but the story now attached to it could bring its value closer to $50,000.
The work is currently being held by Milwaukee police. Meanwhile, as DeLind explained, the client who had consigned it to his gallery for sale is handling the matter with the insurance company.
DeLind’s former business partner, who died in February, had been devastated by the 2018 theft. On every anniversary of the incident, he contacted the police and asked for the case to be publicized again, hoping the Picasso work would be found.
“This news would have made him extremely happy because that work was especially important to him,” DeLind said.
