By Sven Egenter
ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss police have found two of the fouroil paintings by 19th Century masters, which were stolen from aZurich museum earlier this month in one of Europe's biggest artthefts, they said on Tuesday.
The two paintings, by van Gogh and Monet, were found onMonday in a car parked outside a Zurich psychiatric hospital,police said and have an estimated value of 70 million Swissfrancs (33 million pounds).
Police were notified about the paintings by an employee ofthe hospital on Monday afternoon who told them there was asuspicious white vehicle in the car park in front of the clinicand there were two pictures sitting on the back seat, thepolice said in a statement.
Police did not comment on the possible identity of therobbers as investigations were continuing and also said thatthey were not aware that a ransom had been paid.
Claude Monet's Poppies Near Vetheuil from 1880 and Vincentvan Gogh's Blossoming Chestnut Branches from 1890 were found ingood condition and were displayed at a news conference inZurich on Tuesday in their original frames.
"The severe wound which was inflicted on our house onFebruary 10 has been closed somewhat," said Lukas Gloor,curator of the collection at the museum.
Masked robbers stole the two pictures as well as Cezanne'sThe Boy in the Red Vest from 1890 and Degas' Viscount Lepic andHis Daughters from 1871, worth a total of $164 million (84million pounds), from the private Buehrle Collection, in thesecond dramatic art theft in the area within days.
Three men in dark clothing and masks forced their way intothe museum last week and made off with the paintings in a whitecar, police said.
That robbery followed the theft of two Picasso paintings --Tete de Cheval, from 1962, and Verre et Pichet, from 1944 --from a nearby cultural centre.
Police had said a white vehicle may also have played a rolein that incident and they would investigate whether the twothefts were connected.
The Buehrle Collection, housed near Zurich's wealthy GoldCoast lakeside district, was assembled by Swiss industrialistEmil Buehrle who sold anti-aircraft guns to Nazi Germany inWorld War Two.
The foundation houses an important assembly of Frenchimpressionist and post-impressionist works, which Buehrlecollected between 1951 and his death in 1956.
(Reporting by Sven Egenter, writing by Sam Cage and KatieReid; Editing by Dominic Evans)
