The man from the Pru breathed a sigh of relief this week after a £100,000 Lowry painting, The Gateway, which was stolen from the Prudential boardroom in January 1999, was recovered thanks to the Art Loss Register.

The return will be a great relief to the Prudential – not only because it has been missing from the insurer's headquarters for over a year, but also because it was apparently under-insured at the time – for only £75,000.

But group head of media relations at Prudential, Jeremy Reynolds said: "The market fluctuates and as a result our entire art collection is re-valued each year. Prudential's current trend is to keep up with the market value."

The Art Loss Register found the painting after following a search of a London auction house.


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