ART

Paintings, Furniture Stolen: Thieves raided an Italian villa designated to house a collection of the Guggenheim Foundation, stealing four paintings and a piece of furniture valued at $115,000, police said Tuesday. The stolen paintings were not part of the 110-piece collection of minimal and conceptual art, mostly by U.S. artists, which will be donated to the American foundation by Giuseppe Panza di Biumo. The thieves probably raided the unguarded villa in the northern city of Varese a few days ago, police said. The final agreement between the city authorities of Varese and Guggenheim officials to establish a museum of the foundation in the city was expected to be signed next week. The Guggenheim Foundation, based in New York, also has a modern art museum in Venice in a palace along the Grand Canal.