The Hague, Netherlands
A Dutch art detective has recovered a precious Vincent van Gogh painting that was stolen from a museum in a daring midnight heist during the coronavirus lockdown three-and-a-half years ago, police said on Tuesday.
Arthur Brand took possession of the missing painting, the 1884 “Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring”, worth between €3 million (R61m) and €6m, at his Amsterdam home on Monday, stuffed in a blue IKEA bag.
Brand, dubbed the “Indiana Jones of the Art World” for tracing a series of high-profile lost artworks, said that confirming the painting was the stolen Van Gogh was “one of the greatest moments of my life”.
“Arthur Brand, in co-operation with the Dutch police, has solved this matter,” Richard Bronswijk, of the Dutch police arts crime unit, confirmed.
“This is definitely the real one, there’s no doubt about it.”
Brand said frequent calls by him and the Dutch police to hand back the stolen artwork finally paid off when a man, whose identity was not revealed for his own safety, handed Brand the painting in a blue IKEA bag, covered with bubble-wrap and stuffed in a pillow casing.
A video clip supplied by Brand showed him unpacking the painting in his lounge and gasping in astonishment when he realised what it was.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
‘Massive headache’
The painting was burgled from the Singer Laren Museum near Amsterdam on March 30, 2020 in a heist that made headlines across the world.
Dutch police released video images shortly after the burglary, showing a thief smashing through a glass door in the middle of the night, before running out with the painting tucked under his right arm.
In April 2021, police arrested a man, named in Dutch media as Nils M, for the theft. He was later convicted and sentenced to eight years behind bars.
M was also convicted for stealing another masterpiece by Frans Hals, “Two Laughing Boys”, in a separate heist.
“After a few months, I heard from a source in the criminal world who had bought the Van Gogh,” from Nils M, said Brand, who has gained fame for his remarkable recoveries of stolen art, including the “Hitler’s Horses” bronze statues, a Picasso painting and a ring that once belonged to Oscar Wilde.
The man, identified by Dutch media as Peter Roy K, was behind bars for a separate case involving the large-scale import and export of cocaine, Brand said.
K wanted to use the painting as collateral to negotiate a reduction in his sentence.
Brand confirmed Peter Roy K’s identity, stressing he had said before that “no deal for a reduced sentence would be made”.
The whereabouts of the Van Gogh, however, remained unknown until two weeks ago when a mysterious man contacted Brand, saying he wanted to return it.
After some negotiation, Brand persuaded the man, who had “nothing to do with the theft”, to hand back the artwork.
“The man told me: ‘I want to return the Van Gogh. It has caused a massive headache’” because it could not be used as a bargaining chip, Brand said.
“In an operation done in close co-ordination with the Dutch police, we got the painting back,” he said.
The painting, which comes from relatively early in Van Gogh’s career, before the prolific artist embarked on his trademark post-impressionist paintings, such as “Sunflowers”, and his vivid self-portraits, has been handed back to the director of the Groninger Museum, from where it was on loan to the Singer Laren Museum.
“At first, there was disbelief. Staff were asking themselves: ‘Can this be true?’” said Karina Smrkovsky, the head of communications at the Groninger museum.
“Then, when it was confirmed, our disbelief turned into delight. We are incredibly happy that it has been been returned,” Smrkovsky said.
“We are incredibly thankful to Arthur Brand for getting it back.”
Smrkovsky said, however, that the painting would not be on public display immediately, most probably only next year.
“We are delighted that art lovers from all over the world once again will be able to see this wonderful painting,” said Evert van Os, the museum director at Singer Laren.
Frans Hals’s “Two Laughing Boys” remains missing, but Brand said he hoped it would also be returned soon.
Agence France-Presse