Swiss Police Find Two Stolen Zurich Paintings
ZURICH—Swiss police have found two of the four oil paintings by 19th Century masters, which were stolen from a Zurich museum earlier this month in one of Europe's biggest art thefts, they said on Tuesday.
The two paintings, by van Gogh and Monet, were found on Monday in a car parked outside a Zurich psychiatric hospital, police said and have an estimated value of 70 million Swiss francs ($64 million).
Police were notified about the paintings by an employee of the hospital on Monday afternoon who told them there was a suspicious white vehicle in the car park in front of the clinic and there were two pictures sitting on the back seat, the police said in a statement.
Police did not comment on the possible identity of the robbers as investigations were continuing and also said that they were not aware that a ransom had been paid.
Claude Monet's "Poppies Near Vetheuil" from 1880 and Vincent van Gogh's "Blossoming Chestnut Branches" from 1890 were found in good condition and were displayed at a news conference in Zurich on Tuesday in their original frames.
"The severe wound which was inflicted on our house on Feb. 10 has been closed somewhat," said Lukas Gloor, curator of the collection at the museum.
Here are details of some major art thefts:
April 1991—In the world's biggest art robbery, 20 paintings, estimated to be worth $500 million, were stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. They were found shortly afterwards in an abandoned car not far from the museum.
Nov 1993—Eight works by Picasso and French cubist Georges Braque, valued at some $60 million, were stolen from Stockholm's Modern Museum. Some were recovered in the following months.
Dec 22, 2001—"Conversation" and "A Young Parisienne" by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir and a self-portrait by Dutch master Rembrandt were stolen from Stockholm's National Museum. "Conversation" was recovered the following April.
Dec 7, 2002—Two Vincent Van Gogh oil paintings worth millions of dollars were snatched by thieves in a daring robbery at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Aug 27, 2003—In Scotland, thieves stole the "Madonna With the Yarnwinder" by Leonardo da Vinci. The work, painted in the early 16th century, was valued at about $53 million.
Aug 22, 2004—Armed robbers stole "The Scream" from the Munch Museum in Oslo, the second time in 10 years that a version of the painting was stolen. Thieves also took "Madonna" by Munch. The paintings, from 1893, were recovered in August 2006.
Feb 26, 2007—Two Picasso paintings, identified by police as "Maya a la poupee" (Maya with doll) a 1938 portrait of his daughter, and "Portrait de femme, Jacqueline" were stolen from the painters daughter's house in Paris. The paintings were recovered in August.
June 10—A rare 17th-century Dutch painting insured for $1.2 million, a self portrait "A Cavalier" by Frans van Mieris the Elder, was stolen from a major Sydney gallery.
August 5—Armed thieves stole four priceless paintings by Impressionists Monet and Sisley, and Flemish painter Jan Brueghel the Elder, from a museum in Nice, France.
December 20—In Brazil thieves stole Picasso's 1904 work "Portrait of Suzanne Bloch", worth up to $50 million, and local painter Candido Portinari's 1939 "The Coffee Worker," valued at about $5.5 million, from Sao Paulo's leading art museum. Both paintings were recovered the next month.
Feb 6, 2008—Two Picasso paintings worth several million dollars, the "Tete de Cheval" (Horse's head), from 1962, and "Verre et Pichet" (Glass and pitcher), from 1944 were stolen from a cultural centre in the eastern Swiss town of Pfaeffikon.
Feb 11, 2008—Four oil paintings by Cezanne, Degas, van Gogh and Monet were stolen from the Buehrle Collection in Zurich. Two of the paintings, "Poppies Near Vetheuil" by Claude Monet and "Blossoming Chestnut Branches" by Van Gogh, were found in good condition on Feb 18 in a car in Zurich. They are worth an estimated 70 million Swiss francs ($63.98 million). Cezanne's "The Boy in the Red Vest" and Degas' "Viscount Lepic and His Daughters", worth a total of $164 million are still missing.
Masked robbers stole the two pictures as well as Cezanne's "The Boy in the Red Vest" from 1890 and Degas' "Viscount Lepic and His Daughters" from 1871, worth a total of $164 million, from the private Buehrle Collection, in the second dramatic art theft in the area within days.
Three men in dark clothing and masks forced their way into the museum last week and made off with the paintings in a white car, police said.
That robbery followed the theft of two Picasso paintings—"Tete de Cheval," from 1962, and "Verre et Pichet," from 1944—from a nearby cultural centre.
Police had said a white vehicle may also have played a role in that incident and they would investigate whether the two thefts were connected.
The Buehrle Collection, housed near Zurich's wealthy Gold Coast lakeside district, was assembled by Swiss industrialist Emil Buehrle who sold anti-aircraft guns to Nazi Germany in World War Two.
The foundation houses an important assembly of French impressionist and post-impressionist works, which Buehrle collected between 1951 and his death in 1956.
Italy Shows Off Looted Artifacts Seized by Police
ROME—An ancient mosaic of a dark-haired boy and a fresco from Pompeii were among more than 400 looted archaeological treasures Italian police put on show on Tuesday that had been recovered during a three-year hunt across Europe.
The artifacts, including delicate Etruscan goblets and large Greek vases, were illegally dug up and spirited out of Italy decades ago, many of them assumed to be lost forever.
Some of the most precious antiquities, including the fragmented fresco, were found at an elegant Paris mansion owned by a French publishing magnate, whose name was not disclosed. The Italian authorities said they had pressed charges against 31 people—including the publisher.
The other artifacts, most of them illegally excavated in the provinces of Tuscany and Lazio, were traced to Milan, Geneva and Brussels.
"These artifacts are of inestimable value," said Vito Augelli of Italy's Guardia di Finanza financial police force, which coordinated the investigation and showed reporters the antiquities—soon to go on display in museums.
"These are all objects that had been excavated illegally from underground tombs and taken out of the country," he said.
Investigators identified the colourful Pompeiian fresco as perhaps the most prized object. Probably a 1st century A.D. work, the fragments show gardens, fountains and parts of a villa that was once home to Poppea Sabina, the wife of Emperor Nero.
Other significant finds included a virtually intact mosaic showing a young boy with cropped black hair and large black eyes, and a rare Kalpis—a Greek vase used for holding oil or water—featuring delicate figures.
An assortment of jugs, saucers, chalices and vases bearing figures in red, beige and black completed the rich collection.
Italy has carried out a sustained drive to bring home artifacts dug up by tomb raiders and sold abroad to museums or ignorant or unscrupulous collectors.
Last month it celebrated the return of a prized 2,500-year-old vase that it says was looted and sold illegally to New York's Metropolitan Museum more than 30 years ago.
It also put on display in Rome nearly 70 other ancient artifacts that had been looted and sold to galleries abroad.
Many came from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and were returned after the Italian authorities struck a deal with the museum.
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