Olga Dogaru, Mother Of Suspected Art Thief Radi Dogaru, Allegedly Burned Matisse And Picasso Paintings

Radu Dogaru was arrested in conjunction with two others in Romania for stealing seven pieces of art created by the likes of Matisse and Picasso ('Harlequin Head,' above) from Holland’s Kunsthal museum. His mother, Olga Dogaru, may have caused the masterpieces to be lost forever.

Olga Dogaru, fearing for her son’s fate, allegedly burned seven highly-valued pieces of art in a home oven. Following Radu’s arrest, Olga told police, “The idea became trapped in my mind that if the pictures could not be found, there will be no evidence,” according to People magazine. “I sense I made a big mistake,” she reportedly added.

_{'Charing Cross Bridge, London' by Claude Monet}

Saying that she made a “mistake” would be quite an understatement. Anthony Amore, an art-security expert, calls the alleged torching, “a horrifying crime against culture.” The collection of art would be valued at about $130 million, which Rotterdam public prosecutor Barbara van Unnik says “is only a fraction of their cultural, historical value.”

_{'Reading Girl in White and Yellow' by Henri Matisse}

During her July 22 court appearance, Olga Dogaru appeared to change her story of the chain of events, saying simply, “I did not burn them. However, forensic evidence points to there being truth in her initial confession. When the ashes in Dogaru’s oven were tested, traces of both mineral pigments and nails that would have been used by Monet and Gauguin were discovered.

“The evidence is clear,” Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, the director of Romania’s National History Museum, told People. “It’s beyond my imagination why someone would do this.”

– Chelsea Regan

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