Stolen Gauguin, Bonnard art recovered after hanging on a kitchen wall | CNN

Stolen Gauguin and Bonnard art recovered after hanging on a kitchen wall

Livia Borghese and Marie-Louise Gumuchian, CNN
2 minute read
Updated 12:52 PM EDT, Wed April 2, 2014
In 1911, Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the Louvre by an Italian who had been a handyman for the museum. The now-iconic painting was recovered two years later.
In 1911, Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the Louvre by an Italian who had been a handyman for the museum. The now-iconic painting was recovered two years later.
JEAN-PIERRE MULLER/AFP/Getty Images
A statue called "Young Girl With Serpent" by Auguste Rodin was stolen from a home in Beverly Hills, California, in 1991. It was returned after someone offered it on consignment to Christie's auction house. Rodin, a French sculptor considered by some aficionados to have been the father of modern sculpture, lived from 1840 until 1917. His most famous work, "The Thinker," shows a seated man with his chin on his hand.
A statue called "Young Girl With Serpent" by Auguste Rodin was stolen from a home in Beverly Hills, California, in 1991. It was returned after someone offered it on consignment to Christie's auction house. Rodin, a French sculptor considered by some aficionados to have been the father of modern sculpture, lived from 1840 until 1917. His most famous work, "The Thinker," shows a seated man with his chin on his hand.
courtesy Art Recovery
Picasso's "La Coiffeuse" ("The Hairdresser") was discovered missing in 2001 and was recovered when it was shipped from Belgium to the United States in December 2014. The shipper had listed the item as a $37 piece of art being sent to the United States as a Christmas present.
Picasso's "La Coiffeuse" ("The Hairdresser") was discovered missing in 2001 and was recovered when it was shipped from Belgium to the United States in December 2014. The shipper had listed the item as a $37 piece of art being sent to the United States as a Christmas present.
AFP/Getty Images
Italy's Culture Ministry unveils two paintings by the French artists Paul Gauguin and Pierre Bonnard on April 2, 2014. The paintings were stolen from a family house in London in 1970, abandoned on a train and then later sold at a lost-property auction, where a factory worker paid 45,000 Italian lira for them -- roughly equivalent to 22 euros ($30) at the time.
Italy's Culture Ministry unveils two paintings by the French artists Paul Gauguin and Pierre Bonnard on April 2, 2014. The paintings were stolen from a family house in London in 1970, abandoned on a train and then later sold at a lost-property auction, where a factory worker paid 45,000 Italian lira for them -- roughly equivalent to 22 euros ($30) at the time.
ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images
A 19th-century Renoir painting was stolen from a US museum in 1951 and then bought at a flea market in 2010. A judge later ruled that it to be returned to the museum. The 5½-by-9-inch painting, titled "Landscape on the Banks of the Seine," was bought for $7 at a flea market by a Virginia woman.
A 19th-century Renoir painting was stolen from a US museum in 1951 and then bought at a flea market in 2010. A judge later ruled that it to be returned to the museum. The 5½-by-9-inch painting, titled "Landscape on the Banks of the Seine," was bought for $7 at a flea market by a Virginia woman.
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
Seven famous paintings <a href="index.php?page=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2012%2F10%2F16%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Fnetherlands-art-heist%2F">were stolen from the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam</a>, Netherlands, in 2012, including two Claude Monet works, "Charing Cross Bridge, London" and "Waterloo Bridge." The other paintings, in oil and watercolor, were Picasso's "Harlequin Head," Henri Matisse's "Reading Girl in White and Yellow," Lucian Freud's "Woman with Eyes Closed," Paul Gauguin's "Femme devant une fenêtre ouverte, dite la Fiancee" and Meyer de Haan's "Autoportrait."
Seven famous paintings were stolen from the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in 2012, including two Claude Monet works, "Charing Cross Bridge, London" and "Waterloo Bridge." The other paintings, in oil and watercolor, were Picasso's "Harlequin Head," Henri Matisse's "Reading Girl in White and Yellow," Lucian Freud's "Woman with Eyes Closed," Paul Gauguin's "Femme devant une fenêtre ouverte, dite la Fiancee" and Meyer de Haan's "Autoportrait."
Courtesy Interpol
A Salvador Dali painting stolen from a Manhattan art gallery by a man posing as a potential customer <a href="index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2012%2F06%2F30%2Fjustice%2Fnew-york-dali-painting%2Findex.html" target="_blank">in 2012</a>. It was later intercepted by customs police after it was sent back to the United States from Greece.
A Salvador Dali painting stolen from a Manhattan art gallery by a man posing as a potential customer in 2012. It was later intercepted by customs police after it was sent back to the United States from Greece.
New York County DA Office
In 1473, Hans Memling's "The Last Judgment" was stolen by pirates and became the first documented art theft.
In 1473, Hans Memling's "The Last Judgment" was stolen by pirates and became the first documented art theft.
Courtesy wga.hu
Adam Worth, the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's diabolical character Moriarty, stole "Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire," painted by Thomas Gainsborough in 1876.
Adam Worth, the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's diabolical character Moriarty, stole "Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire," painted by Thomas Gainsborough in 1876.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The Nazis plundered countless precious artworks during World War II, including "Adele Bloch-Bauer I," by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, which was confiscated from the owner as he fled Austria.
The Nazis plundered countless precious artworks during World War II, including "Adele Bloch-Bauer I," by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, which was confiscated from the owner as he fled Austria.
REUTERS/Chris Pizzello /Landov
Many works of art that were taken by the Nazis were never recovered. Others were returned after years of legal battles. "Christ Carrying the Cross," by Italian artist Girolamo de' Romani, was returned to its owner's family in 2012.
Many works of art that were taken by the Nazis were never recovered. Others were returned after years of legal battles. "Christ Carrying the Cross," by Italian artist Girolamo de' Romani, was returned to its owner's family in 2012.
REUTERS /PHILIP SEARS /LANDOV
A version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" was one of two paintings by the artist to be stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, in 2004.
A version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" was one of two paintings by the artist to be stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, in 2004.
REUTERS/Handout /Landov
Notorious art heists

Story highlights

Italian police recover two valuable paintings that were stolen more than 40 years ago

The art was stolen in London and later abandoned on a Paris-to-Turin train

A factory worker bought the paintings at a lost-property auction in 1975

He paid about 22 euros for both, and one may be worth at least 10 million euros now, police say

Rome CNN  — 

Two stolen paintings by the French artists Paul Gauguin and Pierre Bonnard hung in an Italian man’s home for nearly 40 years – without his knowing just how valuable they were.

Now worth millions of euros, the artworks were stolen from a family house in London in 1970 and then abandoned on a Paris-to-Turin train.

Italy’s Culture Ministry unveiled the two paintings Wednesday after they were recovered by police specialized in finding stolen art, following an “incredible” series of events.

The paintings were put away in the Italian Railways lost and found storage facility. The man, a factory worker for the car company Fiat, paid 45,000 Italian lire (roughly 22 euros or U.S. $30) for the pieces at auction in 1975. The man was an art lover, but he had no idea of the real value of the paintings, police said.

The man, whom police did not name, hung the works in his Turin home before taking them to Sicily when he retired.

Italian heritage police were alerted last summer when a friend of the worker grew suspicious of their value.

“There are all the elements for a nice novel; it is very unique,” Gen. Mariano Mossa, head of the Italian Heritage Police, said at a news conference.

Locked up in a safe

Police soon matched the works with those stolen in London. A notice of the theft had appeared in The New York Times on July 6, 1970.

The Gauguin painting – “Fruits on a Table or Still Life with a Small Dog” – is said to date to 1889 and is believed to be worth between $13.7 million and $41 million, police said.

The Bonnard painting is titled “La Femme aux Deux Fauteuils” (“Woman with Two Armchairs”).

Gauguin was a post-impressionist artist, and Bonnard is regarded as one of the greatest colorists of modern art.

It was still unclear to whom the paintings would be returned, as the couple they were stolen from have died, apparently leaving no heirs. For now, they will remain in a police safe.

The theft that created a legend

Art looted by Nazis found in German apartment

Editors’ Note: This article has been edited to remove plagiarized content after CNN discovered multiple instances of plagiarism by Marie-Louise Gumuchian, a former CNN news editor.