A valuable work on paper by Pablo Picasso, titled *Still Life with Guitar* (1919), has gone missing during transport from Madrid to Granada, Spain. The piece was part of a shipment of 57 artworks destined for the exhibition 'Still Life. The Eternity of the Inert' at the CajaGranada Cultural Center. The vehicle transporting the works made an unusual overnight stop just 20 miles from its destination, and despite video surveillance at the delivery site, the Picasso was discovered missing during inventory the following Monday. Insured for €600,000 (around $700,000), the work belongs to an unnamed private collector, and police are investigating the presumed theft, though no arrests have been made.
The incident highlights persistent vulnerabilities in art transportation and security protocols, even for high-value works by canonical artists like Picasso. The case raises questions about logistics company practices, the adequacy of inventory checks, and the risks of overnight stops on short-haul routes. It also underscores the challenges faced by cultural institutions in safeguarding loaned artworks, and the broader implications for the art market and exhibition planning when provenance and chain-of-custody are compromised.