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Brazen Daytime Heist: Armed robbers steal Magritte's painting of his wife

24 September 2009
Rene Magritte's "Olympia" was stolen in a daytime heist.

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Rene Magritte's "Olympia" was stolen in a daytime heist.

BRUSSELS (AP) - Two armed robbers in masks made off with a $1.1 million painting by Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte in a morning heist at a small museum in the Belgian capital on Thursday. Brussels police say the two men escaped with the 1948 ''Olympia'' by car after holding museum staff and tourists at gunpoint. The nude image is believed to be inspired by Magritte's wife, Georgette. The painting hung at Magritte's former house, now a small museum, separate from the larger Magritte museum which opened in June.

Read more at New York Times Art

Categories: Magritte, art theft
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