Stolen masterpieces found in car park

20 Feb 2008, 8:04 am   -   Source: SBS staff and agencies
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Two Impressionist paintings by Monet and Van Gogh stolen from a Zurich gallery have been found in the car park of a psychiatric hospital.

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Two Impressionist masterpieces stolen from a Zurich gallery 10 days ago have been found in the back seat of a car parked at a psychiatric hospital in the city.

The works - Claude Monet's Poppies near Vetheuil, and Blossoming Chestnut Branch by Vincent Van Gogh - are said to be worth 70 million Swiss francs (AU$69.6 million). A reward had been offered for their return.

They were spotted in the back of a stolen car left at the hospital on Monday, and are said to be undamaged, with their glass covers still intact.

Two other paintings - Count Lepic and his Daughters, by Edgar Degas, and Boy in a Red Waistcoat, by Paul Cezanne - taken from the museum in the same raid remain missing.

"It's a huge relief and a great piece of luck to find these two paintings in a good condition," said Lukas Gloor, director of the EG Buehrle Collection. "We have good hopes of retrieving the other two.

Reward offered

Swiss police said they had been inundated with tip-offs and information following the heist, and that the hospital worker who found the works would receive part of the 100,000 Swiss franc (AU$99,487) reward.

The paintings, worth a combined 180 million Swiss francs (AU$179 million), were stolen by three masked men who entered the museum shortly before closing time on February 10.

They threatened staff and visitors at gunpoint before pulling the four works off the wall and speeding away in a waiting vehicle.

EG Buehrle, a German-born industrialist who provided arms to the Nazis during the Second World War, amassed one of Europe's greatest private art collections.

He owned at least 13 works on a list of art looted from Jewish families during the war. The pieces were later handed back to their original owners, and Buehrle was compensated by the Swiss government.

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