Police probe Marrache art collection theft

Police are investigating the theft of a small number of paintings from the Marrache art collection, including at least one by Gustavo Bacarisas.

The stolen paintings are part of a significant number of artworks, prints and books sold by the liquidators of collapsed law firm Marrache & Co to the Gibraltar Government for £200,000.

The government discovered the theft after Gibraltar Cultural Services was approached by a dealer to see if it was interested in buying an artwork by Bacarisas, one of Gibraltar’s most important artists.

The painting turned out to be one of the artworks bought from the Marrache liquidators, the Chronicle understands.

It has now been recovered but detectives are working to establish how it ended up for sale on the private market. Up to four other paintings are also still believed to be missing from the collection.

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