Among the Missing

For some reason that neither parlor detectives nor cocktail-party psychiatrists have been able to decipher, Britain is experiencing an esthetic crime wave this year.About $2,424,000 worth of paintings and sculpture have been removed from the homes of collectors. Last week's victim was Sir Roland Penrose, chairman of the Institute for Contemporary Arts, friend and biographer of Pablo Picasso. While Penrose was away, burglars broke into his London home, removed 25 paintings with an estimated value of $720,000. The prize was Picasso's 1937 Woman Weeping.

Well-known works such as Penrose's are difficult for a gang to sell locally. However, insurance companies, who will have to pay for the stolen paintings, usually offer small "rewards" for information leading to their recovery--and no questions asked. Police can never prove that a deal has been made--but they are no longer surprised by anonymous tips telling them to look for the paintings behind some garage and finding them unharmed. Penrose has told his insurance company he will brook no subrosa ransoms, even though his paintings were insured for only $180,000. "It's the same as the kidnaping of a child," he says. "By making a deal, you are just encouraging other kidnapers."

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