Rodin Bust Recovered 13 Years After It Disappeared

After a Picasso painting was vandalized and a Dali painting was suddenly stolen, there's finally been good news in the world of art this week. A stolen bust of the famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin was recently recovered from the back of an antique dealer's truck in central France. The bust, sculpted by Rodin's mistress and muse Camille Claudel, was originally stolen 13 years ago from the Gueret art and archaeology museum. According to a Telegraph article, the work of art is worth up to €1 million.

The antique seller in question had been under surveillance for some time as he was thought to be connected to a series of burglaries in the Lyon region of France. According to an article in Le Parisien, he and another armed passenger in his truck were arrested on June 19 and are now being investigated by the Central Office for the Fight Against Traffic in Cultural Goods (OCBC), a French unit that specializes in stolen art. The men were also found in possession of a number of other art objects, yet have been unable to explain how they obtained any of the works.

The famous bust is also now in the hands of authorities, and we hope that the long-missing work of Claudel will soon make its way to a more fitting home than the back of a truck.