Van Gogh’s “Nuenen Presbytery Garden in Spring,” stolen in March 2020, was recovered this week by Dutch authorities and returned to its owner, the Hague police’s art crime unit said today.
The painting, stolen from an Amsterdam museum in May 2020 at the start of the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, was discovered by authorities in collaboration with detective Arthur Brand, who specializes in works of art, he told Agence France Presse (AFP) officer Richard Bronswijk of Dutch police art crime unit.
A detective took possession of the missing painting on Monday in Amsterdam, wrapped in protective plastic, inside a pillowcase, and in a blue raffia bag from Ikea, according to images in a short video described by AFP.
“Confirming that it was indeed a stolen Van Gogh was one of the best moments of my life,” Arthur Brand told the French news agency. According to the detective, known as the “Indiana Jones of the art world”, the return followed frequent appeals to him and the authorities.
The Nuenen Presbytery Garden in Spring, dated 1884 (with a later 1885 label on the reverse side), is estimated to be worth between three and six million euros. It was stolen from the Singer Laren Museum in Amsterdam on the night of March 30, 2020, while it was on display there, on loan from the Groningen Museum.
The robbery occurred on the birthday of Vincent van Gogh, an artist born in 1853 who died in France in 1890.
Surveillance footage released shortly after the robbery showed a man breaking a glass door and then leaving with the painting.
In April 2021, Dutch police arrested a man named Niels M. for this robbery, as well as for the theft of Frans Hals’ painting Two Laughing Young Men. Niels M. was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Detective Arthur Brand told AFP today that he had discovered “from an underworld source who bought the Van Gogh” from Nils M, confirming it was art dealer Peter Roy K, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison. arrest for receiving stolen goods. Roy K. wanted to use the situation to negotiate a reduced sentence, but this did not happen.
According to the detective, the delivery was made by a man who had nothing to do with the crime.
Arthur Brand stood out as a detective in the art world for recovering stolen works such as Picasso’s Hitler’s Horses.
Van Gogh’s “Nuenen Presbytery Garden in Spring” has already been returned to the Groningen Museum, which owns the painting.
Frans Hals’ painting “Two Laughing Young Men” is still missing.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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