''Still Life with Candlestick'' (French: ''Nature morte aux chandeliers'', ''Nature morte, chandeliers'', ''Nature morte au chandelier'', ''Le chandelier'') is an oil painting created in 1922 by the French artist

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

. This painting was stolen on 20 May 2010 from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. The museum reported the overnight theft of five paintings from its collection, valued at (), though this figure may be conservative. The principal suspect, Vjeran Tomic (nicknamed "Spider-Man" for his ability to scale buildings), was commissioned by antiques dealer Jean-Michel Corvez to steal this painting by Léger. In the process, he stole paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, and Braque.Derek Fincham, ''Five paintings stolen from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris feared destroyed''
1 February 2017''I threw away $100m of Picasso and Matisse art, says dealer in Paris theft trial''
Associated Press, theguardian.com, 30 January 2017 The paintings taken, in addition to ''Still Life with Chandeliers'', were ''

Le pigeon aux petits pois ''Le pigeon aux petit pois'' (English: ''Pigeon with peas''), sometimes referred to as ''Dove with green peas'', is a 1911 oil on canvas painting by Pablo Picasso. It is an example of Picasso's Cubist works and has an estimated value of €23 mill ...

'' (''Dove with Green Peas'', or ''Pigeon with Peas'', 1911) by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

, ''La Pastorale'' (1906) by

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

, ''L'Olivier Près de l'Estaque'' (''Olive Tree near

L'Estaque L'Estaque (; ) is a village in southern France, just west of Marseille. Administratively, it belongs to the commune in France, commune of Marseille. Overview Many artists of the Impressionism, Impressionist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impression ...

'', 1906) by

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

, ' (''Woman with a Fan'', 1919) by

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...

. A window had been smashed and CCTV footage showed a masked man taking the paintings. Authorities believe the thief acted alone. The man carefully removed the paintings from their frames, which he left behind. The theft, executed with an extreme level of sophistication,''Vol de cinq tableaux, dont un Picasso et un Matisse, dans un musée à Paris''
France-Amérique, 20 May 2010 is being investigated by the

Brigade de Répression du Banditisme The ''Brigade de Répression du Banditisme'' ('Banditry Repression Brigade') are police special units of the French Ministry of the Interior (''Ministère de l'Intérieur''). They are in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and scams, ...

specialist unit of the French Police. It is unclear why the alarm systems in the museum failed to detect the robbery. Staff only noticing when they arrived at the museum just before . The museum closed on 20 May 2010, citing "technical reasons". The theft follows the $162 million heist of masterpieces by Cézanne,

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French people, French Impressionism, Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, Print ...

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

and

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

from

Foundation E.G. Bührle Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

in February 2008 and could be one of the biggest art thefts in history (by value). It has been described as the "heist of the century". The French auctioneer and president of the , Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr, commented, "These five paintings are unsellable, so thieves, sirs, you are imbeciles. Now return them." The thief and his sponsor were found one year after the heist, and the latter declared that he was seized by panic after a police raid and a phone call by the police. For fear that investigators were closing in, accomplices apparently destroyed the paintings. "I threw them into the trash," cried Yonathan Birn, one of three people on trial in the case, "I made the worst mistake of my existence." However, neither the judge or other defendants believe Birn is telling the truth. Authorities believe all of the paintings were removed from France. Birn's co-defendants testified he was "too smart" to destroy €100 million worth of artwork. File:PICASSO Le pigeon aux petits pois 1911.jpg,

, 1911, ''

'' (''Pigeon with Peas''), oil on canvas, 65 x 54 cm File:Amedeo Modigliani, 1919, Woman with a Fan, oil on canvas, 100 x 65 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.jpg,

, 1919, ''Woman with a Fan'' ('), oil on canvas, 100 x 65 cm

References

External links

Fernand Léger, ''Nature morte au chandelier'', Photo (C) RMN-Grand Palais / Agence Bulloz

Sandy Nairne, ''Art Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners''
Reaktion Books, 2011, {{DEFAULTSORT:Still Life with Candlestick 1922 paintings Paintings by Fernand Léger Cubist paintings Lost paintings Stolen works of art Still life paintings Oil on canvas paintings

See also

References

External links