Stolen Degas likely to be found

An €800,000 pastel by Edgar Degas “Les Choristes” (1877) has been stolen from Musee Cantini in Marseille, Bloomberg reports.

The picture was valued by the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, which had given it on loan. It was unscrewed from a wall between 30 and 31 December. It measured 27cm (10 inches) by 32cm.

“No matter how skillfully executed these thefts sometimes are, they are generally poorly conceived,” said Robert Korzinek, fine-art underwriter at insurer Hiscox. “The chances of an eventual recovery should be good.”