After the death of Sigmar Polke on June 10, 2010 in Cologne, several of his works were stolen from a gallery in the Rhine metropolis, including the painting Vasen Linsenbild, which was estimated at half a million euros ($590,000).
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After the investigators had been groping in the dark for years, the police in Mainz received a tip of an offer to sell the painting in November 2020. Soon afterwards two men (43 and 48 years old) and a 39-year-old woman were identified as potential suspects.
On May 26, 2021, the search warrant for the Mainz apartments of the three suspects was issued. The 111 x 92 cm Vasen Linsenbild was found in one of them, as the Mainz police headquarters announced in a press release on July 6.
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The authenticity of Polke's work has already been confirmed, and the investigation into the background of the crime is ongoing.
