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Officials: Stolen Picasso smuggled into US, labeled $37 ‘art craft’; really worth millions

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This undated photo provided by the United States Department of Justice, shows a cubist painting entitled “The Hairdresser” by Pablo Picasso. Authorities say the painting worth millions of dollars was stolen in France and smuggled into the U.S. by someone who falsely labeled it as an "art craft" worth about 7 when it was shipped. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta Lynch filed a civil forfeiture complaint Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, over the painting. (AP Photo/U.S Department of Justice)

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Authorities say a Pablo Picasso painting worth millions of dollars was stolen in France and smuggled into the U.S. by someone who falsely labeled it as an “art craft” worth about $37 when it was shipped.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta Lynch filed a civil forfeiture complaint Thursday over the 1911 cubist painting, called “The Hairdresser.”

Authorities say the 1911 painting disappeared from a storeroom at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. It was reported stolen in November 2001.

The painting’s location remained unknown until it arrived in the United States in December 2014. Lynch says the shipping label described the contents as an “art craft/toy.”

There’s no information on whether anyone has been arrested in connection to the shipment.

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