Poppy Flowers

Poppy Flowers
Artist	Vincent van Gogh
Dimensions	65 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 $50 million^[1] to $55 million;^[2] it was stolen from Cairo's Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in August 2010 and is still yet to be found.^[3]

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.^[4] The same painting had been stolen from the same museum on June 4, 1977, and was recovered ten years later^[5] in Kuwait.^[6]

The painting is small, measuring 65 x 54 cm, and depicts yellow and red poppy flowers.^[7] It is believed that van Gogh painted it in 1887, three years before his suicide.^[5] 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 first he saw it in Paris in 1886.^[8]

[edit] Reaction to theft

In October 2010, an Egyptian court found 11 culture ministry employees, including Deputy Culture Minister Mohsen Shalan, guilty of negligence of their professional duties;^[3] they were freed on bail of about $1,750.^[3] Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris put up a $175,000 reward for information leading to the painting.