2. Poppy Flowers by Vincent Van Gogh
Also known as Vase and Flowers, Dutch Post-Impressionist Vincent Van Gogh apparently painted Poppy Flowers just three years before his suicide on the 29th of July 1890, aged just 37. Although some still question this event, claiming he was murdered by René Secrétan, the 16-year-old son of a Paris pharmacist, that theory has been widely debunked by both scholars and authorities.
This diminutive oil on canvas painting, measuring only 65 x 54 centimeters, depicts yellow and red poppy flowers against a dark background. It is widely believed than Van Gogh painted this out of his admiration for French painter Adolphe Monticelli after seeing his work in Paris when he arrived there in 1886.
Residing in the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo, it would be stolen in August 2010 and like our previous entry, not for the first time. It was originally stolen from the same museum in June of 1977 and it would be a full decade before it would be recovered in Kuwait.
At first the Egyptian officials and police thought they wouldn’t have to wait another decade to find it as they discovered the painting at the Cairo International Airport when two suspects attempted to board a plane to Italy just a few hours later. Alas, this proved to be a false lead and the painting has never resurfaced.
Enjoy the complete works of Van Gogh here
