Stolen Gauguin on Sicily kitchen wall for years

By Frances D'emilio

Published April 2, 2014 6:48pm ET

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Stolen Gauguin on Sicily kitchen wall for years — A carabiniere (Italian paramilitary police) officer stands by a Paul Gauguin still life recovered by authorities, during a press conference in Rome, Wednesday, April 2, 2014. Italian police say a Paul Gauguin still life, stolen from a private collection in Britain in 1970, hung on a kitchen wall in a retired Sicilian auto-worker's home for 40 years but now has been recovered by authorities. Maj. Massimiliano Quagliarella of the paramilitary Carabininieri art theft squad told The AP Wednesday the man displayed it in his kitchen, first in Turin, when he worked for Fiat, and then in Sicily, because the painting, depicting two bowls of fruit, seemed suitable to put near his table. Quagliarella said the man brought the painting, along with another of lesser value by Pierre Bonnard, at a 1975 Italian state railways auction of unclaimed lost items, for the equivalent then of about 100 dollars. The auctioneers didn't know they were stolen. (AP Photo/Daniele Leone, Lapresse) | Daniele Leone

ROME (AP) — 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.

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