3 Jean-Paul Riopelle paintings stolen in 1999 recovered at Montreal home

Quebec provincial police have recovered three paintings by world-renowned Quebec artist Jean-Paul Riopelle that were stolen in 1999 and are worth about $150,000.

Police acting on a tip from the public found the paintings at a private residence in Montreal.

No arrests have been made, according to Sgt. Claude Denis, a Sûreté du Québec spokesman.

Denis said the paintings were stolen from an airport warehouse where they were being stored. He wasn't able to provide additional details about the heist.

The late artist's work is much sought after, and his paintings have been targeted by thieves a number of times.

Riopelle was one of the most influential artists in Canadian history, according to Paul Maréchal, curator of the art collection at the Power Corporation.

Maréchal likened Riopelle's works to those of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.

Riopelle "was the only artist who could sell his works in London, Paris, New York galleries, Milan and Germany."

• Stolen Jean-Paul Riopelle painting found in Montreal home

A recurring issue with Riopelle's work 

Riopelle's works have been stolen before.

In 2010, lithographs stolen in Montreal between 1999 and 2004 were sold on the website Kijiji. 

In 2011, two statues made in 1963 were taken from Riopelle's Esterel, Que., workshop and subsequently found nearby, broken in two pieces. The statues, weighing nearly 450 kilograms, were created in 1963 and worth about $1 million.

In May 2014, a painting worth $225,000 was stolen from a Toronto art gallery and found in a Montreal home.

• Stolen Riopelle statues worth $1M found broken

Promoter of the abstract movement

Maréchal highlighted Riopelle's role as one of the signatories of the Refus Global Manifesto, published in 1948 by a collective of Quebec artists. 

"That manifesto was considered a very founding moment in the development of abstract art in Canada. That manifesto requested more political and religious freedom from the authorities of the time."

Maréchal told CBC Montreal's Daybreak that it's possible but unlikely that the person who had the paintings last came by the collection honestly.

"When you acquire a painting, you always have to do a little research, as a buyer, to make sure that the provenance, the previous collections the paintings were in are legit, and the chain of provenance is good," he said.

"It's part of any collector's duty to make sure they aren't buying a stolen work of art."