Swiss police say 2 stolen impressionist paintings recovered in Zurich parking lot

ZURICH, Switzerland – Two Impressionist paintings stolen in one of Europe’s largest art thefts have been recovered in an abandoned car, police said Tuesday.\nThe 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.\nThe 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.\nThe 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.\nThe pictures, worth a combined $64 million, are in good condition and were 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.\n“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.”\nZurich 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.”\nGloor said the two paintings still missing include “our collection’s landmark, ‘The Boy in the Red Vest,’” by Cezanne. \nThat painting alone is worth $91 million. The other painting is Degas’ “Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter.”\nLocal radio station Radio 24, citing an unidentified witness, reported that the building supervisor at the hospital found the paintings in an unlocked car.\nThe hospital is only a few hundred yards from the museum.\nPolice sealed off the hospital grounds, and forensic experts went over the vehicle meticulously before it was towed away.\nPolice initially said the vehicle might have been used by the three robbers when they made their escape with the four paintings from the museum.\n“Connections with other arts thefts in the country and abroad are being examined,” Cortesi said.