Lost in transit: Picasso’s Still Life with Guitar sparks art world mystery

It must have been a stomach-dropping moment. The exhibition team at the CajaGranada Cultural Center began unboxing dozens of artworks—carefully packed, freshly arrived from Madrid—only to discover that Pablo Picasso’s Still Life with Guitar was… gone.

The four-by-five-inch painting, no bigger than a postcard, belongs to a private collector. It was set to be part of the center’s new show, Still Life: The Eternity of the Inert, which opened on October 9. The piece is insured for around $700,000, but its value goes far beyond the price tag.

The vanishing act of the missing Picasso

The work, painted by Picasso in 1919, was supposedly loaded onto a truck in Madrid alongside about 60 other borrowed pieces bound for Granada. The journey should have been simple—a four-hour drive south. But somewhere between the capital and the shadow of the Alhambra Palace, the Picasso disappeared.

When the truck finally reached Granada, it wasn’t unloaded immediately. It sat untouched until October 6, when organizers began unpacking the crates and realized one was missing.

“As not all packages were properly numbered, it was not possible to carry out a thorough check without unpacking them,” the foundation said, according to Reuters’ Romolo Tosiani.

Adding to the mystery, the truck didn’t travel straight through. The drivers stopped overnight in the small town of Deifontes, about 17 miles from their final destination. Police say the transporters took turns watching the vehicle and noticed nothing suspicious.

Now investigators are retracing the truck’s route, trying to determine when and where the painting vanished. Granada police confirmed the ongoing investigation in a statement to CNN’s Amarachi Orie.

The show goes on

Even without the Picasso, the exhibition opened as planned. Admission is free, and the galleries still feature a striking lineup of still lifes from the 17th to 20th centuries, including works by Juan van der Hamen, Juan Gris, Fernando Botero, and Antonio López.

Still life, many guitars

Juan Gris, a close contemporary of Picasso, painted his own Still Life with a Guitar in 1913 while living in the French town of Céret in the Pyrenees. Picasso admired Gris’s work and visited him there.

Even British musician Kevin Ayers paid tribute to the theme, naming his 14th studio album Still Life with Guitar.

Get your game on! Whether you’re into NFL touchdowns, NBA buzzer-beaters, world-class soccer goals, or MLB home runs, our app has it all.

Dive into live coverage, expert insights, breaking news, exclusive videos, and more – plus, stay updated on the latest in current affairs and entertainment. Download now for all-access coverage, right at your fingertips – anytime, anywhere.