Police have launched an investigation after art thieves in the Swedish capital stole pieces by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali. About a dozen works were taken in the smash-and-grab raid.
Police on Thursday said that about a dozen pieces by the surrealist artist Salvador Dali were among the items stole in an overnight raid on a Stockholm art gallery.
The works were stolen in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to Swedish police, with the alarm raised at about 4 a.m. local time.
Swedish media reported that between 10 and 12 table-sized bronze sculptures made by Dali were among the stolen works.
The Dali pieces were believed to be worth between 200,000 and 500,000 kronor (€18,800 to €47,000 euros; $47,000 to $52,000). They measure up to 50 centimeters (20 inches) in height.
The sculptures, which included several of the artist's famous melting watches on a tree, had been on display at the Couleur gallery in the center of Stockholm.
"It's terrible, I'm devastated," gallery owner Peder Enstrom told Swedish television SVT. "I've worked so hard to organize this exhibition."
Police said there were at least two thieves who got into the gallery by smashing the entrance window.
"The scene has been cordoned off so that forensics can carry out an examination," the Stockholm police said in a statement.
The pieces were on show at the gallery as part of a 10-day exhibition that was due to end on Saturday.
The most spectacular art robberies in history
Armed to their teeth, or disguised as policemen — time and again, thieves have pilfered valuable art objects and paintings. Now, gold coins have been robbed from Bavaria's Celtic Museum.
Image: Frank Mächler/dpa/picture alliance
Like a 'classic' heist movie
Thieves have stolen a collection of almost 500 gold coins from the Celtic Museum in Manching, Bavaria. The 2,000-year-old treasure was the museum's highlight. It is still unclear how the perpetrators were able to switch off the alarm systems. The police described the burglary as having been executed in a classic way, as in "a bad movie," while Bavaria's culture minister called it a "disaster."
Image: Frank Mächler/dpa/picture alliance
Breaking into one of the world's oldest museums
The Green Vault in Dresden's Royal Palace is one of the most famous treasure chambers of Europe. Early in the morning of November 25, 2019, burglars broke into the museum and stole three sets of jewelry from the early 18th century. The works made up of diamond, ruby and emerald gems are seen as "priceless." German newspaper Bild called it "probably the biggest art theft since World War II."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Kahnert
When Mona Lisa's smile disappeared
The world's most famous portrait, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," was stolen in 1911. A young Italian named Vincenzo Peruggia took the painting from the Louvre in Paris. Dressed as a member of the museum staff, he was able to hide the relatively small painting under his work coat. It reappeared in 1913 after an art dealer alerted the police.
Rembrandt's portrait of "Jacques III de Gheyn" wasn't stolen from Britain's Dulwich Picture Gallery just once, but four times, namely in 1966, 1973, 1981 and 1986. That's why it came to be nicknamed the "Takeaway Rembrandt." Fortunately the painting has been recovered after each theft.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
Art robbery in Boston remains a mystery
The burglary of 13 paintings from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum stirred international attention in 1990. Two men disguised as policemen broke into the building and removed the paintings, among them Edouard Manet's "Chez Tortoni" and Jan Vermeer's "Concert" (pictured). The empty picture frames are still hanging on the walls.
Image: Gemeinfrei
Spectacular Van Gogh theft
In 1991, a man managed to lock himself into a bathroom in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam — unnoticed. With the help of a warden, he removed a total of 20 paintings, among them the Dutch painter's "Self-Portrait with Easel." However, police were able to recover the works from the getaway car just one hour later. The thieves were caught a few months later.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Van Weel
Da Vinci disappeared for years
"Madonna of the Yarnwinder" by Leonardo da Vinci, valued at €70 million ($72 million), was stolen from a Scottish castle in 2003. Two thieves who entered an exhibition as tourists overpowered the security guard at Drumlanrig Castle and fled with the precious artwork. It remained lost for years until it was discovered during a raid in Glasgow in 2007.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Armed assault on the Munch Museum
Two paintings by expressionist Edvard Munch, "The Scream" and "Madonna," were stolen in Oslo in 2004. Two armed robbers invaded the Munch Museum and, witnessed by numerous visitors, ripped the paintings from the wall. Police were able to retrieve the two famous paintings. However, "The Scream" was damaged so badly during the incident that it could never be fully restored.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Munch Museum Oslo
Europe's biggest art burglary
In 2008, armed thieves pilfered four paintings amounting to a total value of 180 million Swiss francs (€183 million, $189 million) from the collection Bührle in Zurich. "The Boy in the Red Vest" by Paul Cézanne, "Ludovic Lepic and His Daughters" by Edgar Degas, "Blossoming Chestnut Branches" by Vincent van Gogh, and "Poppy Field Near Vétheuil" by Claude Monet (pictured) all resurfaced later on.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
Theft of a 100-kilo gold coin in Berlin
In March 2017, a huge gold coin weighing 100 kilos was stolen from Berlin's Bode Museum. Just its sheer material value alone amounts to four million dollars. It is believed that the thieves found their way into the building through a window. The "Big Maple Leaf" coin originated in Canada. It is 53 cm high and 3 cm thick. On the front side, it bears an image of Queen Elizabeth II.
