Stolen Gauguin painting found in Italian's kitchen

ROME (AFP) - Italy said on Wednesday that they have recovered a painting worth millions of euros by Paul Gauguin. The famous painting was stolen in London in 1970, bought by an Italian factory worker for a pittance and hung in his kitchen for almost 40 years!

Paul Gauguin's "Fruit on a table or small dog" was stolen from a house in the British capital along with "Woman with two chairs" by French artist Pierre Bonnard. The two masterpieces were recovered together in Italy from the pensioner, who used to work for Italian auto giant Fiat. Police said at a press conference, on Wednesday, that the Gauguin painting is worth between 10 and 30 million euros ($13 and $41 million) while the Bonnard is valued at some 600,000 euros, Italy's heritage.

The paintings turned up in a lost property department at a train station. They were sold at auction in 1975 to a worker for Italian auto giant Fiat, who bought them for 45,000 Italian lire, or 23 euros.

Italy's Culture Minister Dario Franceschini told journalists: "It's an incredible story, an amazing recovery. A symbol of all the work which Italian art police have put in over the years behind the scenes". The paintings were found last month after a lengthy investigation, which began when police received a tip-off from the retired worker's son that they may have been stolen.

An article published in the New York Times, dated June 8, 2024 said: "They asked her to make a cup of tea, and when she returned the paintings had been taken from their frames and the men were gone".

Italy opened a special department to investigate art thefts in 1969, the first in the world.