Fruits on a Table

1889 painting by Paul Gauguin

Still Life with Apples and Grapes by Paul Gauguin (1889)

Fruits on a Table or Still Life with Apples and Grapes (Nature Morte a la Comptesse de N) is a still life painting by French artist Paul Gauguin painted in 1889.[1] It was one of two works stolen from the private collection of Terence F. Kennedy in London in June 1970 and recovered by the Carabinieri in Italy in April 2014.[2][3]

## Description

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The painting depicts two bowls of brightly coloured apples and grapes, on a fringed white linen cloth, on a wooden table, with a small dog sleeping on the floor in the background. It is signed and dedicated "a la Comptesse De N (Nimal)".[4]

## Provenance

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The painting, along with Pierre Bonnard's Woman With Two Armchairs (La Femme Aux Deux Fauteuils), was stolen from the flat of widower Terence F. Kennedy (whose wife Mathilda died in 1964) at Chester Terrace, in Regent's Park on June 6, 1970.[5] Press reports at the time said that Kennedy's housekeeper was duped by three men, one posing as a policeman and the others as burglar alarm engineers, and that they cut the paintings from their frames while she was making them tea.[2] After the theft, the paintings are alleged to have been smuggled through France on the Paris-to-Turin train,[4] and then to have turned up in the lost-and-found railway depot in Turin. It is said they were auctioned in 1975 and that a worker at the Fiat Factory bought the paintings for a small sum.[3]

## Recovery

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The paintings are said to have remained in the factory worker's kitchen until an art expert's evaluation in 2014. Once they were identified the Carabinieri took the paintings into custody. Under Italian law the factory worker could have a right to keep them if he could prove that he bought them in good faith.[2][6] In December 2014 they were returned to him by a court in Rome.[7] Simultaneously, the sole and universal heir of the original owner, Terence F. Kennedy, was found and has since made his claim to title.[8]

## References

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1. ^ "Sicilian autoworker decorated kitchen with a Gauguin". The Australian. News Corp Australia. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
2. ^ a b c Bentson, Clark (2 April 2014). "Stolen Masterpieces Worth $50M Found in Auto Worker's Home". ABC News. American Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
3. ^ a b Michael Day (2 April 2014). "Stolen Gauguin and Bonnard paintings worth over €30m recovered after hanging on factory worker's kitchen wall for 40 years". The Independent. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
4. ^ a b Eleanor Biles (2 April 2014). "Stolen Gauguin painting found in Italian retiree's kitchen". Reuters UK edition. Reuters. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
5. ^ "Top five long-lost art masterpieces". The Telegraph. 17 June 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
6. ^ "Stolen Gauguin painting 'hung on factory worker's wall'". BBC. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
7. ^ Squires, Nick (12 December 2014). "Italian pensioner awarded ownership of Gauguin stolen from London flat". The Telegraph. Rome. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
8. ^ Article in Antiques Trade Gazette

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Paul Gauguin

Paintings|

* List of paintings
* Study of a Nude (1880)
* Still Life with Profile of Laval (1886)
* Still Life with a Sketch after Delacroix (c. 1887)
* Vision after the Sermon (1888)
* The Painter of Sunflowers (1888)
* Landscape near Arles (1888)
* The White River (1888)
* Portrait of Madeleine Bernard (1888)
* The Wave (1888)
* Portrait of Madame Roulin (1888)
* Fields by the Sea (1889)
* The Beautiful Angel (1889)
* Fruits on a Table (1889)
* The Schuffenecker Family (1889)
* The Flageolet Player on the Cliff (1889)
* The Yellow Christ (1889)
* The Green Christ (1889)
* Christ on the Mount of Olives (1889)
* Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake (1889)
* Still Life with Head-Shaped Vase and Japanese Woodcut (1889)
* Self-Portrait with the Yellow Christ (c. 1890–91)
* Tahitian Women on the Beach (1891)
* Tahitian Woman with a Flower (1891)
* A Man with an Axe (1891)
* Ia Orana Maria (1891)
* The Bunch of Flowers (1891)
* Conversation (1891)
* Early Evening (1892)
* Landscape with Peacocks (Death) (1892)
* Parau na te varua ino (1892)
* Vahine no te vi (1892)
* Vairumati tei Oa (1892)
* Fatata te Miti (By the Sea) (1892)
* Arearea (1892)
* Spirit of the Dead Watching (1892)
* Te Fare (1892)
* When Will You Marry? (1892)
* Aha Oe Feii? (1892)
* Arii Matamoe (1892)
* The Siesta (1892–1894)
* Merahi metua no Tehamana (1893)
* Otahi (1893)
* Self-Portrait in a Hat (1893)
* Mahana no atua (1894)
* Nave nave moe (1894)
* Arearea no varua ino (1894)
* The Cellist (1894)
* Breton Peasant Women (1894)
* Eiaha Ohipa (1896)
* Nave Nave Mahana (1896)
* Te tamari no atua (1896)
* The Queen (1896)
* Vairumati (1897)
* Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (1897/1898)
* Nevermore (1897)
* Two Tahitian Women (1899)
* The Great Buddha (1899)
* Tahitian Woman and Boy (1899)
* Landscape, Horse on the Road (1899)
* The Call (1902)
* Still Life with Exotic Birds (1902)
* Landscape with a Pig and a Horse (1903)

Other works|

* Jug in the Form of a Head, Self-Portrait (1889)
* Soyez amoureuses vous serez heureuses (wood panel, 1889)
* Objet décoratif carré avec dieux tahitiens (sculpture, 1893–1895)
* Oviri (ceramic sculpture, 1895)

Periodicals|

* Le Sourire (1899–1900)

Exhibitions|

* Les XX, 1889
* The Volpini Exhibition, 1889

Museums|

* Paul Gauguin Museum (Tahiti)
* Paul Gauguin Cultural Center (Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands)
* Paul Gauguin Interpretation Centre (Martinique)

People|

* Jean René Gauguin (son)
* Pola Gauguin (son)
* Paul René Gauguin (grandson)
* Flora Tristan (grandmother)
* Émile Bernard
* Vincent van Gogh
* Meijer de Haan
* Charles Laval
* George-Daniel de Monfreid
* Camille Pissarro
* Émile Schuffenecker
* Theo van Gogh
* Ambroise Vollard

Related|

* The Moon and Sixpence (1942 film)
* Lust for Life (1956 film)
* Rebel in Paradise (1960 film)
* The Wolf at the Door (1986 film)
* Paradise Found (2003 film)
* Gauguin: Off the Beaten Track (2013 comic book)
* At Eternity's Gate (2018 film)
* Gauguin (crater)
* Paul Gauguin Cruises
* ship

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