The Philippine Online Chronicles

Two paintings of National Artist for Visual Arts Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera went missing while being shipped from a Los Angeles gallery to Singapore last week. Sold to a gallery in Singapore, the paintings are thought to be stolen.

Cabrera said the two paintings – “Three Women” and “Twins” – were part of a series of nine art pieces that were displayed on exhibit at the AndrewShire Gallery in Los Angeles. The paintings were sold and were the last to be shipped by the gallery owner via a courier FedEx.

“Someone bought the two paintings and the gallery was sending them from LA to Singapore because the gallery owner lives in Singapore. She was supposed to deliver it already,” Cabrera said in an interview on TV's Mornings@ANC.

Gallery director Sandra Baik said, on a letter she sent Cabrera, that she received empty tubes in Singapore on March 8 “with the cover having been carefully sawn off, but with my address and details clearly stamped on the tube.”

Baik questioned FedEX about the theft, saying the paintings were carefully wrapped and package-sealed in the tube before they were shipped. She also asked how the empty tube was able to pass through Singapore customs and demanded the names of those who manned the delivery.

She has also filed a police report against FedEx in Singapore and notified auction houses against the re-selling of the stolen paintings. Baik also apologized to the Filipino painter for losing the paintings under her watch.

“As frustrated and angry as I am at the turn of events and despite the hours of anguished how's and why's I have subjected myself into, I have to now accept that the paintings have been stolen – not just misplaced. All the years that we shipped art across continents, we have never had anything like this happen to us. FedEx has always been entirely reliable with their collection and delivery schedules, and the risk of blatant theft from a secured facility, honestly, never seriously crossed our minds,” said Baik.

What saddens Cabrera about the theft, he said, was not the money he could have earned for them, but the loss of the paintings themselves.

“I am quite surprised that a reputable delivery company lost the paintings, that they were stolen,” he said on ANC.

Cabrera requests the public to contact him on any information about the missing paintings. Call him at +63 (02) 442-7165 or email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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