Another Picasso stolen in French fine art robbery

MARSEILLE (Reuters) – Thieves stole five pictures, including one by Spanish master Pablo Picasso, from the home in southern France of an art collector who was beaten up during the robbery, a police source said on Saturday.

The most important work in Friday's robbery was a lithograph representing a woman's face painted by Picasso, while the other works were by less renowned artists, the source said, without identifying the other artists.

The robbery comes just two days after thieves stole paintings by Picasso, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani and two other renowned artists from a Paris museum in a heist worth 100 million euros ($124 million).

The collector was hospitalized after being beaten by the thieves in Marseille. The value of the theft is still being assessed, the source added.

A lithograph is an authorized copy of an original work created by the artist himself or another skilled workman. Depending on print quality or production numbers it can have significant value.

The robbery is the latest to hit the Mediterranean city since December. Thieves stole about 30 paintings, including a work by Picasso, from a private villa in January, while a drawing by French impressionist Edgar Degas was stolen from a museum in December.

According to the Art Loss Register, which lists about 170,000 missing pieces, Picasso is the world's most stolen artist.

(Reporting by Jean-François Rosnoblet; writing by John Irish)