The painting, sold for Ft 230 million at a Budapest auction in December 2006, was taken from its owner’s home on Orom utca in the First District.

The thief or thieves made off with three other valuable paintings by Pál Szinyei Merse and László Mednyánszky, each worth tens of millions of forints.

An unnamed art dealer interviewed by Magyar Hírlap suggested that the stolen Csontváry painting could have been taken out of the country a few hours after the robbery.

He said such high-priced paintings are stolen only by special order, and that everything is thoroughly organised before such a theft."

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

This news item is one of many published daily by HATC, a premier subscription news service which distributes English-language info about Hungary via email or fax. For a free trial of HATC follow this link and click on 'Free Trial Subscription'.