Brazilian police have recovered eight Henri Matisse illustrations stolen from São Paulo’s Mário de Andrade Library last December. The recovery is significant because the works, valued at about $200,000 (£148,000), are part of a major artist’s limited-edition Jazz book and have now been returned to the library.

The illustrations were found at a house in São Bernardo do Campo, south of São Paulo, where a 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of storing them for those involved in the theft. Two thieves had overpowered a guard and two visitors before leaving the library on foot; three other people have already been arrested, but five stolen engravings by Brazilian Modernist Candido Portinari remain missing.