A long lost Picasso painting has finally been found after more than a decade of being kept and stolen.
According to nytimes.com, Picasso's "La Coiffeuse" ("The Hairdresser") had disappeared from its French storage more than a decade ago and got found last year in a package bound for New York with a label of $37 Christmas gift.
The painting is now being kept in Pompidou Center museum in Paris and it was unveiled with the supervision of a French government minister and the US ambassador. Investigation whether who sent the package and its receiver is still on- going. US authorities also said that the painting, painted in 1911, had minor damage and needs restoring.
Olivier Picasso, a grandson of the painter, said "It was such a moment of joy when I was told that this painting was found again."
Despite of the "happy event" with Picasso's painting, French Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin said that Picasso's painting theft has been part of a bigger problem in art heist crisis such as the Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria who destroyed a lot of art treasures.
In a report by news.yahoo.com, Fleur Pellerin said "The battle against trafficking in artwork ... also sees unfortunate events, dramatic ones even, such as the systematic and perfectly organized pillaging that the Islamic State group is committing in Iraq and Syria. We (also) know that this terrorist group nourishes itself through the dismemberment and sale of objects taken from sites of antiquity such as that of Palmyra."
Kelly Curie, acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York said that the package was intercepted in New Jersey after authorities got suspicious over a package that was bound a "climate- controlled storage facility" which is an unusual destination for package with French words saying that it has a $37 worth of Christmas gift.
Pablo Picasso's "La Coiffeuse" ("The Hairdresser") is said to be worth a total of $15 million and is now being displayed in a Paris museum.
