Police in Serbia believe they have recovered an Impressionist masterpiece by Paul Cezanne worth at least €145 million that was stolen at gunpoint in one of the world’s biggest art heists four years ago, a police official said yesterday.
“We believe the painting is Cezanne’s Boy in a Red Waistcoat and three suspects were detained in connection with that,” the official, who asked not to be named, said.
“Experts in Serbia and abroad are trying to ascertain whether the painting is an original.
“This painting is worth tens of millions of euro,” the official added.
The canvas was one of four paintings stolen from a Swiss art gallery in 2008 by a trio of masked robbers who burst in just before closing time and told staff to lie on the floor while they took what they wanted.
The paintings were reportedly worth an estimated $163 million (€123 million) at the time and the heist was the biggest art theft in Swiss history and one of the largest in the world.
The Boy in a Red Waistcoat canvas was worth $110 million alone at the time.
The painting was taken from the Emil Georg Buehrle gallery in Zurich, a private collection founded by a second World War arms dealer and entrepreneur. – (Reuters)