Brazilian police have named Laéssio Rodrigues de Oliveira Silva as the alleged mastermind behind the December 2024 theft of thirteen artworks from the Biblioteca Mario de Andrade in São Paulo. The stolen works include eight prints by Henri Matisse from his book *Jazz* (1947) and five illustrations by Candido Portinari for *Menino de Engenho* (1959). Two suspects were initially identified, with one arrested, but police now allege Rodrigues de Oliveira Silva orchestrated the heist from prison, where he is already serving time for previous thefts of rare books and manuscripts from institutions including the National Library Foundation and the University of São Paulo. He is also suspected of ties to the PCC organized crime gang. Two alleged intermediaries and one of the two gunmen have been arrested, while the other gunman, Gabriel Pereira Rodrigues de Mello, remains at large, and the artworks have not been recovered.
This case matters because it highlights the vulnerability of cultural institutions to organized theft, particularly in Brazil where security at public libraries and museums has been historically underfunded. The targeting of Matisse and Portinari works—icons of modern art and Brazilian cultural heritage—underscores the growing intersection of art crime with international criminal networks. The failure to recover the pieces also raises concerns about the illicit art market and the difficulty of tracing stolen works once they enter private collections or are trafficked abroad.