Mexico recovers stolen Tamayo paintings

CNN February 1, 1999 Mexico recovers stolen Tamayo paintings

                  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Mexican police on Monday recovered 12
                  stolen paintings by one of the country's greatest artists, Rufino Tamayo, but
                  failed to catch the thieves, official news agency Notimex reported.

                  Notimex, quoting Judicial Police chief Mauricio Tornero, said the paintings,
                  valued at $22 million, were seized after police staked out a house in Mexico
                  City.

Tornero did not say how police came to watch the building but said the
thieves got away.

                  The paintings were stolen last Thursday when armed men broke into the
                  Lopez Quiroga gallery in the plush Mexico City suburb of Polanco, where
                  they had been on show with 40 others.

Tornero said then it was clear the art had been stolen to order.

                  Rufino Tamayo was born in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca in 1899.
                  Best known for his whimsical portraits and still lifes, he also painted murals
                  including one for the conference room of the United Nations Educational,
                  Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Paris.

                  The 12 stolen works were painted between 1929 and 1988 and include
                  such titles as "Sandias" ("Watermelons"), "Abejas agresivas" ("Angry bees")
                  and "Perfil amarillo" ("Profile in yellow").