Ho
/ REUTERS
"The
Boy in the Red Vest," painted circa 1888, by Paul Cezanne
By
Reuters
Police
in Serbia believe they have recovered an Impressionist masterpiece by Paul
Cezanne worth at least $109 million that was stolen at gunpoint in one of the
world's biggest art heists four years ago, a police official said on Thursday.
"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, told Reuters.
"Experts
in Serbia and abroad are trying to ascertain whether the painting is an
original. This painting is worth tens of millions of euros," the official
added.
The
canvas -- "Boy in a Red Waistcoat" -- 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 lay on the floor while they took
what they wanted.
The
paintings were reportedly worth an estimated $163 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 stolen in 2008 from the Emil Georg Buehrle gallery in Zurich, a
private collection founded by a World War II arms dealer and entrepreneur. The
gallery could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Two of the stolen canvasses, one by Claude Monet and the other by Vincent Van Gogh, were recovered days later abandoned in a car, but the other two -- the Cezanne and a painting by Edgar Degas -- have been missing for the last four years.
Cezanne's
"Boy in a Red Waistcoat" is thought to have been painted around 1888
and depicts a boy in traditional Italian dress donning a red waistcoat, a blue
handkerchief and a blue belt. Three other versions of the painting are in
museums in the United States.
Last
October, the Serbian police recovered two paintings by Pablo Picasso --
"Tete de Cheval (Horse's Head)" and "Verre et Pichet (Glass and
Pitcher)" -- stolen in 2008 from a gallery in the Swiss town of
Pfaeffikon, near Zurich.
The
police official said law enforcement agencies from several countries had
cooperated in the latest investigation that led to the apparent recovery of the
Cezanne masterpiece.
Serbia's
state prosecutor is expected to issue a statement or give a press briefing on
the case later on Thursday.