`` Sotheby 's is happy to have been able to be involved in this discovery , and we are pleased that this painting will be returned to the government of France , '' Phillips said . 19th - century painting will be returned to France almost four decades after it was stolen . ` ` Blanchisseuses souffrant des dent '' was taken in 1973 from the Malraux collection . The painting did not resurface until 2006 when it appeared on Sotheby 's website .
19th - century painting will be returned to France almost four decades after it was stolen . ` ` Blanchisseuses souffrant des dent '' was taken in 1973 from the Malraux collection . The painting did not resurface until 2006 when it appeared on Sotheby 's website .