Stolen Swiss paintings recovered
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - February 19, 2008 The pictures by Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet were among
four paintings worth $163 million that were stolen from a private
museum in a Feb. 10 armed robbery.
The two other paintings taken from the E.G. Buehrle Collection -
one by Edgar Degas and the other by Paul Cezanne - remain missing,
Philipp Hotzenkoecherle, commandant of the Zurich city police, told
reporters.
The recovered paintings - Monet's "Poppy field at Vetheuil"
and van Gogh's "Blooming Chestnut Branches" - were discovered in
a parking lot in front of a Zurich mental hospital on Monday. It
was unknown how long the white sedan in which the paintings were
found had been parked there, Hotzenkoecherle said.
The pictures, worth a combined $64 million, are in good
condition and were found still under the glass behind which they
were displayed in the museum, he said. They were identified by
museum director Lukas Gloor after a thorough inspection.
"I am incredibly relieved that two paintings have returned,"
Gloor told a news conference. "We're very happy that both the
paintings are in absolutely impeccable shape."
Zurich police spokesman Marco Cortesi said he did not know
whether a ransom had been paid to recover the paintings. Gloor,
standing next to him, said, "I can't give any information on
that."
Gloor said the two paintings still missing includes "our
collection's landmark "Boy in the Red Waistcoat."
That painting, by Cezanne, alone is worth $91 million. The other
painting is Degas' "Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter."
Local radio station Radio 24, citing an unidentified witness,
reported that the building supervisor at the hospital found the
paintings in an unlocked car.
The hospital is only a few hundred yards from the museum.
Police sealed off the hospital grounds and forensic experts went
over the vehicle meticulously before it was towed away.
Police initially said the vehicle may have been used by the
three robbers when they made their escape with the four paintings
from the museum.
"Connections with other arts thefts in the country and abroad
are being examined," said Cortesi.
---
Associated Press writers Onna Coray in Zurich and Eliane Engeler
and Alexander G. Higgins in Geneva contributed to this report.
