A masterpiece of Cubism art by artist Pablo Picasso that was stolen more than a decade ago was returned to the Pompidou Centre yesterday after custom officials intercepted it in 2014 at a US airport.

La Coiffeuse was reported stolen in 2001 when staff at the Pompidou Centre responded to a loan request and noticed it was missing its archives. Following a lead, customs agents found the $15 million oil painting in a FedEx shipment from Belgium to Newark, New Jersey. The shipping label described the contents as a handicraft worth €30.

The president of the museum said the painting will be displayed after three months of restoration at a secret Paris location.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.