One month after the theft of 13 works by Henri Matisse and Cândido Portinari from the Biblioteca Mário de Andrade in downtown São Paulo, Brazilian authorities have made progress in the criminal investigation, even as the stolen works remain missing.
The first arrest came one day after the 7 December robbery, when the police in São Paulo apprehended a suspect after tracking his movements; he remains in custody as the investigation continues. A second suspect was temporarily detained on 18 December on suspicion of involvement; police believe he did not directly participate in the crime but was seen with the thieves shortly after.
A third arrest came on 19 December, when police detained a woman believed to have helped the heist by hiding the works immediately after the robbery. Police confirm she is married to the one suspect who remains at large, a man named Gabriel Pereira Rodrigues de Mello, who is known by the nicknames “Gargamel” and “Capybara”.
Mello had previous convictions for robbery and aggravated theft dismissed by the São Paulo courts early last year. His convictions were lifted as part of a law that grants an automatic pardon to convicts who meet some requirements, like time served and good behaviour.
One of the convictions that was overturned happened a decade ago in São Paulo, when Mello and another man pretended to carry firearms and carjacked a luxury vehicle. Another incident happened in 2022, when Mello impersonated a bank employee and took an envelope containing 300 reais ($55) from an elderly customer. Mello previously had an extensive criminal history mostly related to robberies.
The robbery of the Matisse and Portinari works happened on a Sunday morning while the library was open to the public. Two armed men entered the gallery and subdued a security guard and an elderly couple who were visiting the exhibition.
The robbers removed eight engravings by Matisse and five prints by Portinari from a glass display case and placed them in a canvas bag. Surveillance footage shows the duo exiting through the library’s main entrance, walking toward the Anhangabaú Metro station and getting into a getaway van that was later seized by police.
In the robbery’s aftermath, the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes, stated that Interpol had been notified to prevent the works from leaving the country. The authorities believe the robbery was carefully planned and that specific pieces were selected for sale in the black market. Law enforcement agents are also collaborating on recovery efforts with the Brazilian Institute of Museums, the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage and the Brazilian Association of Art Galleries.
The stolen works were part of an exhibition held in collaboration with the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM-SP). It is estimated that the works were valued between 700,000 to 1m reais ($130,000-$180,000). Jose Antonio Totó Parente, the secretary of culture and the creative economy for São Paulo, stated that the pieces “have cultural, historical and artistic value, and therefore cannot be assessed solely in economic terms”.
The secretariat confirmed that the works were insured, but the theft has sparked conversations in Brazil about the security of public cultural institutions, particularly exhibitions held outside of museums or other secured spaces.
