Priceless Works Vanish from Tuzla Museum

The Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tuzla Canton are conducting the investigation.

Gallery Director Dzenan Jusufovic said the disappearance surfaced in a detailed inventory of gallery holdings that was completed in April. It revealed that 72 pieces of artwork were missing.

There is documentation for two of the missing pieces. A painting by Ismet Mujezinovic was loaned to an exhibit at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Sarajevo, and a sculpture was placed in an elementary school.

“For the other 70 missing artworks, there is no promissory note, and no one knows where they are,” said Jusufovic.

He declined to put a monetary value on the missing works, which have been unofficially estimated to be worth two million KM. Many of the pieces are considered priceless national treasures.

The list of missing pieces includes works from the Collection of Contemporary Portraits by such artists as Bozidar Jakac, Dragisa Trifkovic and Mario Mikulic.

Also missing are seven works from the Ismet Mujezinovic collection.

The International Collection of Portraits is missing pieces by Safet Zec, Adela Ber and Mersad Berber, among others.

The former director of the gallery, Cazim Sarajlic, said that he realized artworks were missing during his tenure. He noted that he personally acquired some of them, including paintings by Ismet Mujezinovic and Mensur Dervisevic.

Stolen artworks are notoriously hard to find. Many end up on the black market and are sold to unscrupulous private collectors at bargain prices.