Poppy Flowers

Painting by Vincent van Gogh

F324a
JH1137

TypeStill lifeMediumOil on canvasDimensions65 cm × 54 cm (26 in × 21 in)

Poppy Flowers (also known as Vase And Flowers and Vase with Viscaria) is a painting by Vincent van Gogh with an estimated value of US$55 million ^[1] which was stolen from Cairo's Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum twice; first in 1977 (and recovered after a decade), then again in August 2010 and has yet to be found.^[2]

1977 theft

The painting had been stolen from Cairo's Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum on June 4, 1977, and was recovered ten years later^[3] in Kuwait.^[4]

2010 theft

The painting was once again stolen from the same museum in August 2010. Egyptian officials erroneously believed they had recovered the painting only hours after its theft when two Italian suspects attempted to board a plane to Italy at Cairo International Airport.^[5]

The painting is small, measuring 65 x 54 cm, and depicts yellow and red poppy flowers.^[6] It is believed that van Gogh painted it in 1887, three years before his suicide.^[3] The painting, which is of a vase of yellow and red poppies, contrasted against a dark ground is a reflection of Van Gogh's deep admiration for Adolphe Monticelli, an older painter whose work influenced him when he first saw it in Paris in 1886.^[7]

Reaction to theft

In October 2010, an Egyptian court found 11 culture ministry employees, including Deputy Culture Minister Mohsen Shaalan, guilty of negligence and professional delinquency.^[2] Each was sentenced to three years in jail but subsequently released on bail of about $1,750 pending appeal.^[2] After the appeal, Shaalan served a one-year prison term ending in 2013.^[8]

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris put up a $175,000 or 1,000,000 Egyptian pounds reward for information leading to the return of the painting.^[9]

References

^ "Egypt culture chief sleepless over Van Gogh theft". Reuters. August 24, 2010. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Egyptian ministry officials jailed over Van Gogh theft". BBC News. 12 October 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Van Gogh painting stolen in Cairo". BBC News. 21 August 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
^ "Egyptian minister says Van Gogh picture still missing". BBC News. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
^ "Faulty alarms blamed for Van Gogh theft in Egypt". BBC News. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
^ "Egypt Court Jails Officials Over Van Gogh's "Vase with Viscaria" Stolen in August". artdaily.org. April 22, 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-06.
^ Staff (2010-08-22). "Stolen Van Gogh painting still missing". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
^ Elkamel, Sara. "Egypt's jailed culture ministry official creates art behind bars". Ahram Online. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^ "Egyptian tycoon offers reward for Van Gogh theft". Reuters. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2016.

External links

Van Gogh painting pinched, again at Wikinews

Vincent van Gogh

General

Groups of
works

Early works (1881–82)
Portraits (1881–1890)
Peasant Character Studies (1881–1885)
Van Gogh's family in his art (1881–1888)
Sien (1882–83)
Cottages (1883–1885)
Water Mill at Gennep (1884)
Still life paintings, Netherlands (1884–85)
Old Church Tower at Nuenen (1884–85)
Amsterdam (1885)
Wheat Fields (1885–1890)
Le Moulin de la Galette (1886)
Still life paintings, Paris (1886–87)
Montmartre (1886–87)
Self portraits (1886–1889)
Outskirts of Paris (1887)
Asnières (1887)
Seine (1887)
Japonaiserie (1887)
Sunflowers (1887–1889)
Trees and Undergrowth (1887–1890)
Copies by Vincent van Gogh (1887–1890)
Langlois Bridge at Arles (1888)
Saintes-Maries (1888)
Boats du Rhône (1888)
Décoration for the Yellow House (1888)
The Roulin Family (1888–89)
Hospital in Arles (1888–89)
Flowering Orchards (1888–89)
Almond Blossoms (1888–1890)
Paintings of Children (1888–1890)
The Wheat Field (1889)
Reaper (1889)
Olive Trees (1889)
Wheat Fields (1889)
Butterflies (1889–90)
Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy (1889–90)
Auvers size 30 canvases (1890)
Auvers Double-squares and Squares (1890)
Lost works by Vincent van Gogh
Display at Les XX, 1890

Oil paintings

1882	Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather Girl in White in the Woods Lying Cow A Girl in the Street, Two Coaches in the Background
1883	Cows in the Meadow Farmhouses Among Trees Bulb Fields Landscape with a Church at Twilight Landscape with Dunes Footbridge across a Ditch Marshy Landscape A Wind-Beaten Tree Farm with Stacks of Peat Farmhouses in Loosduinen near The Hague at Twilight Three Figures near a Canal with Windmill
1884	Two Rats Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen Landscape with Pollard Willows Cart with Black Ox Cart with Red and White Ox Lane in Autumn Water Mill at Opwetten Water Mill at Kollen Village at Sunset Avenue of Poplars in Autumn Avenue of Poplars at Sunset Head of an Old Farmer's Wife in a White Hat
1885	Still Life with Straw Hat The Potato Eaters Peasant Woman Digging Peasant Woman Digging Up Potatoes Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette
1886	Vase with Red Poppies Vase with White and Red Carnations The Kingfisher
1887	Poppy Flowers Wheat Field with a Lark View of Paris from Vincent's Room in the Rue Lepic Portrait of Père Tanguy A Woman Walking in a Garden Imperial Fritillaries in a Copper Vase Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin Red Cabbages and Garlic
1888	Madame Roulin and Her Baby Landscape with Snow La Mousmé The Zouave Still Life: Vase with Oleanders The Night Café The Yellow House Van Gogh's Chair Café Terrace at Night Starry Night Over the Rhône Portrait of the Artist's Mother Bedroom in Arles The Painter on the Road to Tarascon Les Alyscamps A Lane in the Public Garden at Arles Falling Autumn Leaves L'Arlésienne The Red Vineyard Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles) Les Arènes Interior of a Restaurant in Arles A Lane near Arles Arles: View from the Wheat Fields Sunset at Montmajour Farmhouse in Provence Orchard with Cypresses
1889	Valley with Ploughman Seen from Above View of Arles, Flowering Orchards Portrait of Doctor Rey Crab on its Back Two Crabs Irises Lilac Bush The Starry Night The Gardener Self-portrait (1889) Self-portrait without beard Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear A Meadow in the Mountains: Le Mas de Saint-Paul A Road at Saint-Remy with Female Figure Enclosed Field with Peasant Rain Cypresses Wheat Field with Cypresses Green Wheat Field with Cypress The Diggers The Ravine of the Peyroulets Ivy View of the Asylum and Chapel of Saint-Rémy The Large Plane Trees
1890	The Siesta Road with Cypress and Star At Eternity's Gate Thatched Cottages and Houses Portrait of Dr. Gachet Doctor Gachet's Garden in Auvers Houses at Auvers White House at Night Landscape with a Carriage and a Train Girl in White The Church at Auvers Daubigny's Garden Farms near Auvers The Cows The Town Hall at Auvers Blossoming Chestnut Branches Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat Still Life: Vase with Pink Roses Portrait of Adeline Ravoux Plain near Auvers Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds Wheatfield with Crows Prisoners' Round (after Gustave Doré) Tree Roots Landscape at Auvers in the Rain Poppy Field