passengers said it was theirs. They soon confirmed that it appeared to be the missing Les Choristes, although they did not know if it was authentic despite the Degas signature. Experts from the Orsay soon confirmed that it was, and it was undamaged. Several days later, in a joint news release, the customs agency and the Ministry of Culture announced the recovery of Les Choristes. Culture Minister Françoise Nyssen praised the customs service for "the fortunate recovery of a precious work whose disappearance had been a great loss to our national Impressionist heritage." Gérald Darmanin, Minister of Public Action and Accounts, said "the constant vigilance of customs", which had seized 10,000 possibly stolen works of art during 2017, had again proved its value in protecting French heritage. The previous year, the Orsay had marked the centenary of Degas's death with an exhibit of his work focusing on his relationship with Paul Valéry. The museum announced that it would include Les Choristes in an exhibit of the artist's work depicting opera, set to open in September 2019. After that, the exhibit will travel to Washington, D.C., where it will open at the National Gallery of Art in March 2020. See also 1877 in art 2009 in art 2018 in art Crime in France French art List of stolen paintings Count Lepic and His Daughters, another Degas work stolen and then recovered References External links Edgar Degas, Les Choristes, Musée d'Orsay catalog page Pastel drawings by Edgar Degas Drawings of the Musée d'Orsay Stolen works of art Recovered works of art 1877 works