Over three years after the theft of Van Gogh's "The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring" in a smash-and-grab raid in Laren, the artwork has been successfully recovered by Dutch private art detective Arthur Brand. The retrieval took place during a recent negotiation on Amstelveld, a quaint square off Amsterdam’s Prinsengracht Canal, where the priceless painting was discreetly handed over inside an Ikea bag.
Reportedly, the individuals in possession of the Van Gogh had intended to use it as leverage for a prisoner's release.
The stolen artwork had been on loan from the Groninger Museum to an exhibition at the Singer Laren Museum when it was stolen in the early hours of March 30, 2020. Thieves violently broke through the glass door of the public entrance to the Singer Laren to seize the painting, which dates back to March 1884 and portrays the garden of Vincent Van Gogh's parents.
Nearly a year later, in April 2021, a suspect was apprehended, convicted of stealing both the Van Gogh and a Frans Hals painting from a museum in Leerdam, and sentenced to eight years in prison. However, the two stolen artworks remained missing.
In a recent joint operation with the Dutch police, Arthur Brand successfully recovered the Van Gogh over the weekend. Andreas Blühm, the director of the Groninger Museum, praised Brand's pivotal role in the case, expressing the museum's deep appreciation.
For the time being, "The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring" is being held temporarily at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Blühm notes that the painting (oil on paper on panel) has sustained some damage but appears to be in relatively good condition at first glance. It will undergo a thorough examination and any necessary conservation work, a process expected to take weeks, if not months, before it can return to display at the Groninger Museum.
Although the insurer has already compensated the museum for the value of the stolen Van Gogh, making it the formal owner, the museum retains the first right to purchase it back, with a spokesperson confirming their intention to exercise this right in order to share the artwork with the public.
Main Image: Vincent van Gogh, The Parsonage garden at Nuenen in Spring (1884)