{"id":130055,"date":"2023-09-12T10:07:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T10:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/?p=130055"},"modified":"2023-09-12T10:07:36","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T10:07:36","slug":"indiana-jones-of-art-world-recovers-stolen-5m-van-gogh-painting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/world-news\/indiana-jones-of-art-world-recovers-stolen-5m-van-gogh-painting\/","title":{"rendered":"&apos;Indiana Jones of art world&apos; recovers stolen \u00a35m Van Gogh painting"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>&#8216;Indiana Jones of the art world&#8217; recovers stolen \u00a35million Van Gogh painting: Crook dumps it in an IKEA bag after detective tracks him down<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Arthur Brand, dubbed the Indiana Jones of the art world&#8217; recovered \u00a35m painting<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Van Gogh painting was stolen in 2020 from a museum near Amsterdam\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A Dutch art detective dubbed the &#8216;Indiana Jones of the art world&#8217; today revealed he recovered a \u00a35million Vincent Van Gogh painting that was stolen from a museum in a daring midnight heist more than three years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Arthur Brand acquired the painting,\u00a0the 1884 &#8216;Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring&#8217;, which is worth up to six million euros (\u00a35.1 million), on Monday after he tracked down a crook who was in possession of the precious piece.<\/p>\n<p>The crook, who has not been named, dumped the painting in a blue IKEA bag, covered with bubble-wrap and stuffed in a pillow cover, in an undisclosed location &#8211; ending a case that has been a source of frustration for Brand for three and a half years.<\/p>\n<p>Brand, who has earned his nickname &#8216;Indiana Jones of the Art World&#8217; after he traced a series of high-profile lost artworks, said that confirming the painting was the stolen Van Gogh piece was &#8216;one of the greatest moments of my life&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>A grinning Brand held up the stolen piece in a video in which he says: &#8216;This is Spring Garden by Vincent Van Gogh which was stolen three years ago on Van Gogh&#8217;s birthday from a museum in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We have searched for it for more than three and a half years but finally it&#8217;s here, it&#8217;s back.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/10\/75327031-12508231-image-a-9_1694511804872.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>A Dutch art detective dubbed the &#8216; Indiana Jones of the art world&#8217; has today revealed he recovered a \u00a35million Vincent Van Gogh painting that was stolen from a museum in a daring midnight heist more than three years ago<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/10\/75327029-12508231-image-a-10_1694511807355.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>A grinning Brand held up the stolen piece in a video in which he says: &#8216;This is Spring Garden by Vincent Van Gogh which was stolen three years ago on Van Gogh&#8217;s birthday from a museum in the Netherlands.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/10\/75327343-12508231-image-m-14_1694511859122.jpg\" height=\"502\" width=\"306\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/10\/75327027-12508231-image-a-15_1694511864780.jpg\" height=\"502\" width=\"306\"><\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We have searched for it for more than three and a half years but finally it&#8217;s here, it&#8217;s back,&#8217; Brand said in the video while holding up the Van Gogh painting\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Brand said he would be handed the painting back to the director of\u00a0Singer Laren Museum near Amsterdam to hand the artwork back before heading off to have a well-deserved drink with the police officers involved in the case.<\/p>\n<p>The piece was stolen from the museum on March 30, 2023 &#8211; Van Gogh&#8217;s birthday &#8211; during the coronavirus lockdown in a heist that made headlines around the world.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Arthur Brand, in cooperation with the Dutch police, has solved this matter,&#8217; Richard Bronswijk of the Dutch police arts crime unit confirmed to AFP.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;This is definitely the real one, there&#8217;s no doubt about it.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Brands said that 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.<\/p>\n<p>A video clip supplied by Brand showed him unpacking the painting in his lounge and gasping in astonishment when he realised what it was. &#8216;I couldn&#8217;t believe it,&#8217; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The whereabouts of Van Gogh&#8217;s painting had remained a mystery until two weeks ago when a\u00a0mysterious man contacted Brand saying he wanted to return it.<\/p>\n<p>After some negotiation, Brand persuaded the man &#8211; who had &#8216;nothing to do with the theft&#8217;, according to the art detective &#8211; to hand back the artwork.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The man told me &#8216;I want to return the Van Gogh. It has caused a massive headache,&#8217; because it could not be used as a bargaining chip, Brand said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;In an operation done in close coordination with the Dutch police, we got the painting back,&#8217; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Dutch police had released video images shortly after the 2020 burglary showing a thief smashing through a glass door with a sledgehammer in the middle of the night, before running out with the painting tucked under his right arm.<\/p>\n<p>The security footage shows the thief entering the museum through the gift shop after smashing his way through the glass doors.<\/p>\n<p>He then breaks another door with his sledgehammer, advancing further into the gallery and leaving more shattered glass behind him.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/10\/27507446-12508231-This_security_footage_from_the_Singer_Laren_museum_near_Amsterda-a-16_1694511961338.jpg\" height=\"375\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>This security footage from the Singer Laren museum near Amsterdam shows the moment a burglar broke in through the gift shop on a mission to steal a Van Gogh painting<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/10\/27507458-12508231-The_thief_is_seen_on_this_footage_broadcast_by_Dutch_TV_last_nig-a-20_1694512671282.jpg\" height=\"355\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The thief is seen on this footage broadcast by Dutch TV last night which police say has already led to dozens of new tips from the public<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/10\/27507460-12508231-The_crook_was_seen_escaping_the_museum_the_way_he_had_entered_it-a-21_1694512673875.jpg\" height=\"387\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The crook was seen escaping the museum the way he had entered it, carrying his sledgehammer under one arm and the painting under the other\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The museum&#8217;s managing director Evert van Os defended the Singer Laren&#8217;s security at the time, which he said had been approved by an insurance firm.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The burglar broke through a number of doors and several layers of security that had been approved by security experts,&#8217; Van Os said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The footage released does not therefore allow any conclusions to be drawn as to the quality of security at Singer Laren.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, 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.<\/p>\n<p>M. was also convicted for stealing another masterpiece by Frans Hals called &#8216;Two Laughing Boys&#8217; in a separate heist.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;After a few months I heard from a source in the criminal world who had bought the Van Gogh,&#8217; from Nils M, said Brand, who has gained fame for his remarkable recoveries of stolen art, including the &#8216;Hitler&#8217;s Horses&#8217; bronze statues, a Picasso painting and a ring that once belonged to Oscar Wilde.<\/p>\n<p>This man, identified by Dutch media as Peter Roy K., was currently behind bars for a separate case involving the large-scale import and export of cocaine, Brand said.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/10\/26587134-12508231-The_Parsonage_Garden_At_Neunen_In_Spring_1884_by_Dutch_master_Vi-a-17_1694511980440.jpg\" height=\"391\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Parsonage Garden At Neunen In Spring 1884, by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh, was stolen from a Dutch museum which is closed because of the coronavirus pandemic<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/10\/26586962-12508231-The_Singer_Laren_museum_near_Amsterdam_pictured_on_the_day_of_th-a-18_1694511983937.jpg\" height=\"444\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Singer Laren museum near Amsterdam (pictured on the day of the theft) said the Vincent van Gogh painting had been stolen in an overnight raid\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>K. wanted to use the painting as collateral to negotiate a reduction in his sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Brand confirmed Peter Roy K.&#8217;s identity, stressing he had said before that &#8216;no deal for a reduced sentence would be made.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The whereabouts of the Van Gogh however remained a mystery until two weeks ago when the crook contacted him saying he wanted to return it.<\/p>\n<p>The painting, which comes from relatively early on in Van Gogh&#8217;s career, before the prolific artist embarked on his trademark post-impressionist paintings such as &#8216;Sunflowers&#8217; and his vivid self-portraits, has already been handed back to the director of the Groninger Museum, from where it was on loan to the Singer Karen Museum.<\/p>\n<p>Frans Hals&#8217; &#8216;Two Laughing Boys&#8217; remains missing, but Brand said he hoped that painting would also be returned soon.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12508231\/Indiana-Jones-art-world-recovers-stolen-5million-Van-Gogh-painting-Crook-dumps-IKEA-bag-detective-tracks-down.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Indiana Jones of the art world&#8217; recovers stolen \u00a35million Van Gogh painting: Crook dumps it in an IKEA bag after&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&amp;apos;Indiana Jones of art world&amp;apos; 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