Picasso, Matisse artworks stolen

January 3, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

BERLIN — Thieves stole works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and others from a Berlin gallery over the New Year’s holiday, police said Friday.

More than 30 works — worth an estimated $250,000 — were stolen, apparently between Wednesday afternoon and lunchtime Thursday, police spokeswoman Claudia Schweiger said. The artwork was taking from the Fasanengalerie, a private gallery near western Berlin’s central shopping district.

The etchings, prints and sculptures included “Profil au fond noir,” a 1947 work by Picasso; “Nude in a rocking chair,” a Matisse print from 1913; and “Le Boupeut,” a 1962 color print by Georges Braque.

The gallery’s owner discovered the loss New Year’s Day, having found signs the door had been pried open, police said. Given the number of works stolen and the weight of the sculptures, two or more people probably were involved, police said in a statement.

Prolific mystery writer Donald Westlake dies

NEW YORK — Donald Westlake, a prolific author considered one of the most successful and versatile mystery writers in the United States, has died. He was 75.

Westlake collapsed from an apparent heart attack as he headed to New Year’s Eve dinner while vacationing in Mexico, his wife, Abigail, told the New York Times.

In a lengthy career that spanned a half-century, Westlake won three Edgar Awards, an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay “The Grifters” and the title of Grand Master from the Mystery Writers of America in 1993. His first novel, “The Mercenaries,” was published by Random House in 1960.

Westlake wrote more than 90 books — mostly on a typewriter. Aside from his own name, he also used several pseudonyms — including Richard Stark, Tucker Coe, Samuel Holt and Edwin West — in part because people didn’t believe he could write so much so quickly.

“In the beginning, people didn’t want to publish more than one book a year by the same author,” Susan Richman, his publicist at Grand Central Publishing, told the Times.

Today’s birthdays

Record producer George Martin is 83. Actor Robert Loggia is 79. Actor Dabney Coleman is 77. Journalist-author Betty Rollin is 73. Singer-songwriter-producer Van Dyke Parks is 66. Musician Stephen Stills is 64. Rock musician John Paul Jones is 63. Actress Victoria Principal is 59. Actor-director Mel Gibson is 53. Actress Shannon Sturges is 41. Jazz musician James Carter is 40. Contemporary Christian singer Nichole Nordeman is 37. Actor Jason Marsden is 34. Actress Danica McKellar is 34. Actor Nicholas Gonzalez is 33. Singer Kimberley Locke is 31. R&B Lloyd is 23. Actor Alex D. Linz is 20.