Woman steals artwork then WEARS it back to the museum
A 72-year-old French woman has been arrested after stealing an art installation from a museum.
Catalan artist Oriol Vilanova exhibited a blue jacket filled with postcards visitors could remove and examine at the Musée Picasso in Paris.
However, the elderly woman took the interactive exhibit one step further by taking the entire jacket and walking out with the garment.
The woman returned to the museum a few days later wearing the jacket, which she had tailored to fit her properly.
She was arrested by the police upon her return, who happened to be at the museum collecting evidence at the time.
While in custody, the retiree – who was reportedly “passionate” about art – confessed immediately to taking the jacket, according to local news outlet Le Parisien, but claimed she did not know it was an artwork.
After hours of interrogation, the public prosecutor’s office let the woman off with a warning and dropped the case. According to Le Parisien, the woman had been placed under guardianship.
The artwork, titled Old Masters, involved filling the pockets of a blue jacket with postcards depicting artworks by major figures in art history.
At the Musée Picasso, the jacket was filled with postcards purchased at flea markets and museum shops, all with images of Picasso’s work.
“When the museum told me the work had been stolen, I was surprised, but it was impossible to envisage the story that followed,” Vilanova told Artnet News.
Image credits: Le Parisien