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PHOTOS: Picasso, Monet art stolen in one of biggest heists
Seven paintings worth hundreds of millions were stolen from a museum in the Dutch city of Rotterdam in the wee hours of Tuesday in what reports say is one of the biggest art heists in history.
The masterpieces stolen from the Kunsthal Museum including work by Pablo Picasso, Lucien Freud, Claude Monet and Henri Matisse.
Dutch police confirmed a total of seven paintings were stolen from a museum exhibition showcasing a private collection of over 150 exhibits, and had only been open for a few days.
The paintings taken were on loan from the private Triton Foundation and went on display last week as one of two exhibit.
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Picasso, Monet art stolen in one of biggest heists
Claude Monet's Waterloo Bridge was among one of the piantings taken from the Dutch museum. The sketch was drawn by Monet during his stay at The Savoy Hotel in London 1901.
The French impressionist sketched the pastel artwork in January 1901 from his view from room 618, now known as the Monet suite.
Waterloo Bridge is one of 26 pastels of the River Thames known to have survived from Monet's stays at The Savoy.
Picasso, Monet art stolen in one of biggest heists
The theives also made off with Sigmund Freud's grandson and German-born British painter Lucian Freud's haunting portrait 'Woman with Eyes Closed'.
Picasso, Monet art stolen in one of biggest heists
A Dutch police handout shows the painting ;Tete d'Arlequin' by Pablo Picasso stolen during a break-in at Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum.
Jop Ubbens, chairman of Christie's in Amsterdam told Daily Mail that the paintings would be worth 'more than several million euros,' with the Picasso the best known of the stolen works.
Picasso, Monet art stolen in one of biggest heists
Among the other famous paintings that were stolen were 'Charing Cross Bridge' by Claude Monet, which is part of the French impressionist's London series.
Picasso, Monet art stolen in one of biggest heists
Leading French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin's 'Femme devant une fenetre ouverte, dite La Fiancee' (1888) was stolen from Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum on October 16.
Picasso, Monet art stolen in one of biggest heists
La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune (Reading Girl In White And Yellow), a 1919 painting, by French artist Henri Matisse was also taken.
Picasso, Monet art stolen in one of biggest heists
Autoportrait by Dutch painter Meyer de Haan disappeared from Kunsthal, Rotterdam on Tuesday morning.
"The least well-known is Meyer de Haan, which looks like a Gauguin, so maybe it was a mistake," Jop Ubbens, chairman of Christie's in Amsterdam told Daily Mail.
Picasso, Monet art stolen in one of biggest heists
An empty spot on the wall marks the place where the stolen Henri Mattise painting was in Rotterdam's Kunsthal art gallery in the Netherlands.
Picasso, Monet art stolen in one of biggest heists
A police officer investigates the surroundings of Rotterdam's Kunsthal art gallery in the Netherlands.
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