A stolen Van Gogh worth Millions was returned in an Ikea Bag At dawn on the 30th of March 2020 – Van
the painting would have to pay a large fine.
Gogh’s birthday – a Van Gogh painting called
Brand stated that: “we knew that the painting
“The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring”,
would go from one hand to another hand in the
made in 1884, was stolen from the Singer Laren
criminal world, but that nobody really wanted
Museum in the Netherlands. The artwork,
to touch it [because] you could only get in
estimated to be worth between 3.2 and 6.4
trouble.”
million dollars, was a loan from the Groninger Museum. Now Arthur Brand, a world-renowned Dutch “art detective”, who has been described as the “Indiana Jones of the art world” has recovered the painting, stating that it was delivered to his apartment by an anonymous person, wrapped in an Ikea bag.
Arthur Brand withe the returned Van Gogh (Source: The Guardian)
The police believe that the person returning the artwork was not involved in the theft, as they
Brand has helped to recover more than 200
have identified the robber as Nils M., who also
paintings, many from famous painters such as
stole a Frans Hal painting in 2020, and who was
Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso, together with
sentenced to 8 years of prison and a payment of
some other items, like a gold ring gifted to
9 million dollars to compensate for the Hal’s
someone by Oscar Wilde.
painting.
The Groninger Museum has assessed the Van
Apparently, the Van Gogh painting circulated
Gogh painting and has stated that the painting
through
was
was stored in bad conditions and the quality has
ultimately unwanted because the thief had
therefore deteriorated but that it ultimately still
already been convicted, so anyone found with
is in good condition.
the
criminal
network
but
Katharina Kriz
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