Silver Picasso plate worth $112,000 stolen from Miami art fair

MIAMI - A silver plate made by famed Spanish artist Pablo Picasso was stolen overnight from a Miami art fair, Art Miami Show Director Nick Korniloff said on Friday.

The piece, called Visage aux Mains (Face with Hands), was one of 20 made by Picasso in the mid-20th century featuring a simple, smiling face at its centre with stick-like hands on either side.

The plate, exhibited at the Art Miami fair by Amsterdam-based Leslie Smith Gallery, is valued at US$85,000 (S$112,000), Korniloff said.

"There is no market value for a stolen work of that nature that doesn't come with paperwork or provenance," he added.

In a statement, the Miami Police Department said "there is no video surveillance or witnesses to this incident. The investigation continues."

Leslie Smith Gallery Director David Smith could not immediately be reached for comment.

The plate has been added to the Art Loss Register, a global database of missing works meant to alert art world insiders.