These Thieves May Not Know, The Painting They Hide Under The Mattress Is Worth IDR 869 Billion

Screenshot video via The Guardian

JAKARTA - This painting is entitled Sol Poente (Sunset) by Amaral. One of the spectacular 1929 oil paintings.

Sol Poente has been missing due to being stolen by an art theft gang. Now Sol Poente has been found.

He was found with a very inappropriate location. In fact, if converted, the artwork is estimated to be worth 300 million reais or equivalent to IDR 869 billion

Sol Poente is a painting by one of Brazil's most famous artists – the pioneering modernist Tarsila do Amaral –. Sol Poente was found in Rio on Wednesday morning during a police operation targeting a group of con artists.

Four people were arrested, including the victim's own daughter who police accused of stealing 16 paintings, worth about 709 million reais from her 82-year-old mother.

A video posted on social media shows the stunning moment when this painting was finally found in a beachfront apartment in Ipanema.

"Well, well, well - look what we have here!" said a female attendant as the artwork was removed from under the bed.

Other artworks reportedly stolen from victims include the Mascarada by modernist master Di Cavalcanti and two other Amaral paintings: Pont-Neuf and O Sono. Both are also reportedly worth tens of millions of pounds.

Some of the 16 stolen paintings were reportedly sold to overseas collectors, with two of them found at the Buenos Aires Museum of Latin American Art in Argentina. Three were tracked down to an art gallery in São Paulo.