Pablo Picasso's "Tete d'Arlequin"-- pictured here on show at Sotheby's on May 3,2007 -- was one of seven paintings stolen from an exhibition at the Kunsthal Rotterdam museum on October 16, 2012.
In pictures: Kunsthal art heist —
Pablo Picasso's "Tete d'Arlequin"-- pictured here on show at Sotheby's on May 3,2007 -- was one of seven paintings stolen from an exhibition at the Kunsthal Rotterdam museum on October 16, 2012.
AFP/Getty Images
Claude Monet's "Waterloo Bridge, London" was also taken during the pre-dawn heist.
In pictures: Kunsthal art heist —
Claude Monet's "Waterloo Bridge, London" was also taken during the pre-dawn heist.
AFP/Getty Images
A investigator searches the Rotterdam Kunsthal museum following the break-in. The stolen works belong to a private collection that was being shown to the public for the first time.
In pictures: Kunsthal art heist —
A investigator searches the Rotterdam Kunsthal museum following the break-in. The stolen works belong to a private collection that was being shown to the public for the first time.
AFP/Getty Images
In pictures: Kunsthal art heist

Story highlights

7 stolen works were by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Gauguin, others

Paintings of "considerable value" were taken, Kunsthal Rotterdam spokeswoman says

The collection contains more than 150 works of art, including artists Duchamp, Braque

The early morning break-in triggered an alarm and a security response

CNN  — 

Paintings by famous modern artists disappeared from an exhibition in the Netherlands in a predawn art heist Tuesday, shutting down an exhibition in the Kunsthal Rotterdam, where works by Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol and Claude Monet are on display.

Seven works of “considerable value” disappeared in the museum theft, spokeswoman Mariette Maaskant said on Netherlands public radio.

“Initial investigations show the burglar was well prepared,” police said in a statement.

Painting from Clapton’s collection nabs record price

Rotterdam police said evidence has been secured and they are speaking with potential witnesses. Investigators are also looking at security camera footage.

The paintings include Pablo Picasso’s “Tete d’Arlequin”; Henri Matisse’s “La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune”; and Claude Monet’s “Waterloo Bridge, London” and “Charing Cross Bridge, London,” Rotterdam police said.

The other three were Paul Gauguin’s “Femme devant une fenêtre ouverte, dite la Fiancee,” Meyer de Haan’s “Autoportrait” and Lucian Freud’s “Woman with Eyes Closed.”

London: Man charged for defacing classic painting at the Tate

The Kunsthal’s alarm system went off shortly after 3 a.m. local time, alerting the exhibition hall’s private security detail. When security staffers arrived by car, they saw that the paintings were missing, Rotterdam police spokesman Roland Ekkers said. They informed police, who started an investigation.

The works belong to a private collection that is being shown for the first time to the public, according to a Kunsthal statement.

The Triton Collection has taken 20 years to assemble and includes more than 150 works of modern art from the “late nineteenth century to the present day.” It spans art movements from impressionism and expressionism to cubism and constructivism.

Its roster of artists boasts the names of Marcel Duchamp, Piet Mondriaan and George Braque, to name just a few.

Andy Warhol’s ’15 minutes’ of fame are not up yet

Journalist Dominique Van Heerden contributed to this report.