Armed thieves stole more than a dozen priceless works of art from a library in Brazil after holding two people hostage, local media reports. At least eight engravings by French painter Henri Matisse and five works from Brazilian painter Candido Portinari were swiped from the Mário de Andrade Library in São Paulo on Sunday. One of the two thieves reportedly held a security guard and an elderly couple hostage in a glass-domed exhibition area while their accomplice stuffed the items into a canvas bag before escaping through the library’s main entrance. The pair was last spotted heading in the direction of the Anhangabau Metro Station, according to the governor’s office, and are still at large as of Monday morning. Security footage shows one of the thieves dropping some of the pieces on the side of the road as they make their escape, with it being unclear whether they or an accomplice later returned to collect them. Among the stolen works are believed to be collages printed by Matisse in his famed 1947 art book, Jazz, which had been loaned to the library from the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo.
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