Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal – Picasso
In 1911, a few days after Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was snatched from La Louvre, a man named Joseph Gery Pieret reported to ‘The Paris Journal’ that Picasso was in possession of some Iberian sculptures that had been stolen from La Louvre a couple of years previously. Because of this Picasso jumped to the top of the list of suspects for the theft of the Mona Lisa. In fact, Joseph Gery Pieret was the one who had stolen the Iberian sculptures and sold them to Picasso, who knew they were stolen. Picasso was later quoted as saying: “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.”
It turns out the artist that stole the Mona Lisa in 1911 was an Italian artist and thief named Vincenzo Peruggia, it has been described as the greatest art theft of the 20th Century.
Vincenzo Peruggia – Artist & Thief – Photographed in 1909