The stolen Picasso and the forest quest

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A few years ago, writer Mira Feticu received an anonymous letter with instructions on how to find a stolen Picasso, buried under a tree in a Romanian forest. The painting, the Tête d'Arlequin or Harlequin Head, had been stolen in 2012 from the Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum. Within days, Mira had found the spot where the artwork was supposed to be hidden. But a shock was in store. Maria Konnikova is a science writer and psychologist. In 2015, she experienced a series of misfortunes and wanted to learn more about the role that luck, skill and chance play in people's lives. So she decided to learn how to play poker. And after a year, she went from being someone who didn't even know how many playing cards were in a deck, to becoming a highly rated champion. She's written a book about this experience and it's called The Biggest Bluff: how I learned to pay attention, master myself and win. Picture: Pablo Picasso's Harlequin Head. Credit: The Triton Collection Foundation.