Kidnapped in Cairo in 2010, Van Gogh's painting "Poppies" was a fake

[Artem]

Kidnapped in Cairo in 2010, Van Gogh's painting "Poppies" was a hoax. 02/02/2012 11:22

CAIRO, Feb. 2. /Correspondent. ITAR-TASS Drunken Dean /. Stolen from a museum Mahmoud Khalil in Cairo in August 2010, Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Poppies", whose value was estimated at $ 55 million, is actually a replica of the original, stolen from the museum still 1977. This conclusion was the British experts.

The Egyptian edition of the "Masraui" said today that over 33 years of the original kept at a certain high official close to the entourage of former President Hosni Mubarak. This painting was sold in 2010, the year at a London auction for $ 35 million. The name of the official shall not be disclosed, as against him under investigation on charges of theft of antiquities for the past ten years.

Officially, after being kidnapped in 1977, "Poppies" returned to the museum 20 years later, after traces of painting emerged by accident in Kuwait. Apparently, she returned to the collection is a fake, and the leadership of Egypt, said in London knew about it. During one of his visits to London, his wife of ex-president Suzanne Mubarak warned that in the Cairo museum displays a copy, not original. Apparently, this explains the lack of zeal on the part of the big powers of the country in search of paintings by Van Gogh after his abduction.

Less than two months after the theft, the fall of 2010, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced to imprisonment for 11 accused in the sensational case. "Extreme" proved to be the head of the Department of the Ministry of Culture and 10 museums, including the director. They were charged with negligence that led to the loss of priceless works of art. As it turned out, the security system of the museum, which houses one of the finest private collections of Western European Art XIX-XX centuries worth more than eight billion dollars, was not functioning.

Ultimately, the traces of the stolen copies also surfaced in London. A few days ago it became known that the current authorities are trying to achieve the pyramids from Britain to return the canvas.