ABOVE: Detail from Henri Matisse’s Luxembourg Gardens, one of four paintings stolen in Rio de Janeiro in late February. It turned up yesterday on a Russian auction site.

One of the four paintings stolen from the Chacara do Ceu museum in Rio de Janeiro during a Carnival parade on February 24 turned up for sale on a Russian auction website, Interpol revealed on Monday (yes, we’re kind of late to this party). Matisse’s Luxembourg Gardens was posted for sale for about four hours on the Mastak site, with an asking price of US$13 million.

The Russian connection gives some credence to the theory that the heist was a collaboration between illicit foreign art dealers and drug traffickers, but Brazilian police say they believe the four paintings—a Monet, Picasso, Matisse, and a Dali, the pride of the Chacara’s collection and worth about US$50 million total—are still in Rio. They believe that the thieves (who not only hustled the four paintings out into the crowd still in their frames, but also mugged some tourists inside the museum for good measure) are trying to liquidate their loot for cash to fund drug smuggling. Sound familiar?

LINK: Sydney Morning Herald > Stolen Matisse on auction website