Portinari

The 1959 oil on wood painting by Cándido Portinari entitled Enterro (Burial) was stolen from the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) in Pernambuco, a state in Brazil's northeastern region. The work belongs to Portinari's blue series and is valued at 1.2 million BRL (some 680,000.00 USD). The painting was next to five other works by Portinari in one of the exhibition rooms of the MAC, a museum located in the historic city of Olinda (northeast). Its disappearance went nearly unnoticed on July 14, when security personnel finally realized that it was missing as they were closing the doors of this institution. The painting was once part of the private collection of media mogul Assis Chateaubriand, who in 1966 decided to donate the piece - together with other works - with the intention of helping Pernambuco to possess its own museum of contemporary art. The police in Pernambuco state has opened an investigation and asked Brazil's Federal Police as well as the Interpol for aid to prevent the painting¿s removal from the country and being sold.