A Paul Gauguin still life stolen from a wealthy collector’s home in Britain decades ago has been recovered after hanging for 40 years in a Sicilian autoworker’s kitchen.
The worker bought the painting along with one of lesser value by another French artist, Pierre Bonnard, for about $100 at a 1975 Italian state railway auction of unclaimed lost items, said Maj. Massimiliano Quagliarella of the paramilitary Carabinieri art theft squad.
Italian authorities on Wednesday estimated the still life’s worth as being between $14 million to $40 million.
The painting — named ”Fruit on a Table with a Small Dog” — depicts two bowls brimming with brightly colored grapes, apples and other pieces of fruit.
The painting will remain in the custody of the art squad because the police have yet to receive an official notice that it is stolen.
