Corona Daily 392: Van Gogh Kidnapped

The Dutch museum ‘Singer Laren’ had organized an exhibition “Mirror of the Soul” to run from January to May 2020. Museums routinely borrow famous artworks from other museums to make exhibitions more attractive. The Groninger museum lent “The parsonage garden at Nuenen (1884)” better known as the “Spring Garden” to Singer Laren. This was the only Van Gogh Groninger had, and the museum was delighted the rare piece would be viewed for five months. Indeed, until 13 March, hundreds of art lovers admired it at Singer Laren. Then the museum and the nation went into lockdown.

On 30 March, at 03.15 am, an unexpected visitor, face fully covered, smashed a glass door with a sledgehammer, went inside, picked up the Van Gogh, and left in his vehicle. The entire operation, caught on CCTV, took less than two minutes. The shrill alarms went off loudly, and the police arrived a couple of minutes too late.  

The Spring Garden is oil on paper on panel, 25 cm X 57 cm, easy to carry under arms. It is not known if the thief had targeted that particular painting. 30 March was the birth anniversary of Van Gogh, which simply may be an uncanny coincidence. This early picture of Van Gogh, before Arles and before Paris, is darker and less recognizable. Still, it is valued at $ 6.6 mn.

Usually, in a few weeks, the art thief learns how difficult it is to sell a stolen painting. No art lover would want to hang it in his living room. A casual thief becomes frustrated and destroys the stolen piece, the only evidence of his crime. After two months neither the painting nor the thief was found, and art lovers mourned the disappearance. Destroyed paintings and killed human beings never come back.

***** 

Arthur Brand is a Dutch art crime detective. During his career, he has recovered more than 200 art works, including a Picasso and a Dali. As part of his work, he maintains contacts with the underworld. In June, he got one photograph from a source he can’t disclose.

The photograph shows the stolen painting, now taken out of its frame, a New York Times of 30 May next to it, and a biography of Octave Durham, an art thief who in 2002 had stolen two Van Goghs worth $100 million.

Brand was happy to find this “proof of life”. Like in a kidnap situation, a newspaper front page is attached to show how recent a photo is. The museum has confirmed the painting is genuine. Because the thief has also attached a photo of the label behind the painting, not available in any catalogue. The other clue, the Durham biography, is not yet well understood. Durham was in hospital when the robbery happened.

*****

Such stolen paintings can only be sold to criminal networks. The maximum price fetched can be between 2% and 10%.  Mafiosi buy them not for display, but as a bargaining chip. The two Van Goghs stolen in 2002 were recovered in 2016 from an Italian mafia boss. Raffaele Imperiale had tried to offer the paintings back in exchange for a reduced sentence.

The art world is happy Spring Garden is alive. It will be recovered at some point. If it means some mafia man spending less time behind bars, art lovers wouldn’t really mind that.

Ravi