Stolen Gauguin and Bonnard paintings discovered on Italian factory worker's wall after 40 years

A Fiat car worker in Italy purchased two paintings for £300 in 1975 from a lost property auction held by the Italian national railway in Turin. The artworks, by Paul Gauguin and Pierre Bonnard, had been stolen in London in 1970 from the widower of a Marks & Spencer co-founder's daughter. For decades, they hung unnoticed on the worker's walls until his son recognized a resemblance to a Gauguin image in a book last year. Thieves likely transported the pieces by train from Paris to Turin, abandoning them onboard, possibly during border checks. Anonymous and unclaimed, they entered the railway's lost property collection before the sale. The paintings were unveiled on 2 April at the Italian culture ministry in Rome, now valued at millions. The Guardian reported the story, highlighting the unexpected journey from theft to rediscovery.