Poppy Flowers is a painting

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 by Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...

 with an estimated value of $50 million to $55 million; it was stolen

Art theft

Art theft is usually for the purpose of resale or for ransom . Stolen art is sometimes used by criminals to secure loans.. One must realize that only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered. Estimates range from 5 to 10%. This means that little is known about the scope and characteristics of...

 from Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

's Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil Museum

Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil palace

The Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum is a museum in Greater Cairo, in the Giza area, Egypt. It is located in a palace built in the early 20th century.-History:...

 in August 2010 and is still yet to be found.

Egyptian officials erroneously believed they had recovered the painting only hours after its theft when two Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 suspects attempted to board a plane to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 at Cairo International Airport

Cairo International Airport

Cairo International Airport is the busiest airport in Egypt and the primary hub for Star Alliance member EgyptAir. The airport is located to the north-east of the city around from the business area of the city.The airport is administered by the Egyptian Holding Co...

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

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

.

The painting is small, measuring 65 x 54 cm, and depicts yellow and red poppy

Poppy

A poppy is one of a group of a flowering plants in the poppy family, many of which are grown in gardens for their colorful flowers. Poppies are sometimes used for symbolic reasons, such as in remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime....

 flowers. It is believed that van Gogh painted it in 1887, three years before his suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

. 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.

Reaction to theft

In October 2010, an Egyptian court found 11 culture ministry employees, including Deputy Culture Minister Mohsen Shalan, guilty of negligence

Negligence

Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M...

 of their professional duties; they were freed on bail of about $1,750.
Egyptian billionaire

Billionaire

A billionaire, in countries that use the short scale number naming system, is a person who has a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency, usually the United States dollar, Euro, or Pound sterling. Forbes magazine updates a complete list of U.S. dollar billionaires around the...

 Naguib Sawiris

Naguib Sawiris

Naguib Onsi Sawiris is an Egyptian businessman and politician. He was executive chairman of the telecommunications companies Wind Telecom and Orascom Telecom Holding before turning to politics in May 2011...

put up a $175,000 reward for information leading to the painting.