Stolen Monet and Van Gogh paintings recovered

London, Feb 20 : Two paintings stolen last week from a museum in Zurich have been recovered undamaged in an abandoned car.

Swiss police said the pictures, 'Poppies near Vetheuil' (1879) and 'Chestnut in Bloom' (1890), were among four paintings worth 160 million dollars (82 million pounds) that were stolen from Zurich's Emil Buehrle Collection.

They said that the paintings, by Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh, were discovered on the back seat of a white sedan parked outside a psychiatric hospital in the city.

Zurich police commandant Philipp Hotzenkoecherle said that the recovered pieces were in good condition and still under the glass behind which they were displayed in the museum.

The two other stolen paintings, Degas's Count Lepic and his Daughters (1871) and Cezanne's Boy in a Red Jacket (1888), remain missing.

Museum director Lukas Gloor identified the paintings after a thorough inspection.

After the robbery, Gloor said the impressionist artworks were so famous that it would not be possible to try and sell them on the open market.

"The severe wound which was inflicted on our house on 10 February has been closed somewhat," BBC quoted quoted Gloor, as saying.

Three masked, armed men who stole the paintings are still at large.

ANI