Rare Signed Picasso Print Stolen from Art Gallery in 2018 Found by Landlord in Vacant Apartment 6 Years Later

“It was an overwhelming moment for me,” said Bill DeLind of DeLind Fine Art Appraisals after learning his long-missing art was located

NEED TO KNOW

• A print of Picasso’s “Torero” missing since 2018 was recently found by a landlord who was cleaning out a vacant apartment
• Bill DeLind of DeLind Fine Art Appraisals in Milwaukee stepped forward to claim the art, which still had his gallery’s sticker on it
• “I was at a loss for words,” DeLind said of learning it was found

A good Samaritan helped police find a long-missing, rare piece of art.

An original etching print of Pablo Picasso’s “Torero” from 1949 went missing from an art gallery on Feb. 16, 2018. 

Six years later, the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) announced in a news release that on Aug. 5 “a community member walked into Milwaukee Police District Four and turned in an etching print that was suspected to have been stolen … in the 700 block of N. Jefferson Street.”

“An authenticator confirmed this etching print was the stolen etching print from February of 2018,” police continued. “Investigators are in the process of locating the rightful owner.”

Soon after, the Associated Press reported that local landlord Tim Dertz discovered the Picasso print while cleaning out a vacant apartment and that Bill DeLind of DeLind Fine Art Appraisals stepped forward to claim the stolen “Torero,” which is one of 30 known signed prints of it.

“I was at a loss for words. It was an overwhelming moment for me,” DeLind told the outlet, which noted that a DeLind Fine Art Appraisals sticker was found on the artwork’s frame. 

“It was indeed mine. It came back full circle,” the art gallery owner continued, adding that the “Torero” might be worth up to $50,000. 

DeLind’s business partner, who died in February, called the police every year on the date the print was stolen to urge them to keep searching.

“He would have been over the moon about this,” DeLind said.

In their release about the found artwork, the MPD wrote, “The Milwaukee Police Department is grateful that this community member recognized the etching print and did the right thing and returned it.”

“We are better together,” they concluded.

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