Van Gogh painting stolen as thieves take advantage of coronavirus lockdown

                    

                

A Dutch museum says that a painting by Vincent van Gogh was stolen in a raid overnight. The Singer Laren museum east of Amsterdam says ‘Spring Garden’ by the Dutch master was stolen in the early hours of Monday. The museum is currently closed because of restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

Before the closure, the museum was hosting an exhibition titled ‘Mirror of the Soul’ with works by artists ranging from Toorop to Mondrian, in cooperation with Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. The museum houses the collection of American couple William and Anna Singer, with a focus on modernism such as neo-impressionism, pointillism, expressionism and cubism.

 

During a press conference broadcast on Youtube, the museum’s director, Jan Rudolph de Lorm, said he was “incredibly pissed off” after thieves stole the painting, which had been on loan from the Groninger Museum.

De Lorm said: “This is exactly what you don’t want as a museum that has a painting on loan.

“A beautiful and moving painting by one of our greatest painters, stolen from the community … This must come back as soon as possible, so that we can enjoy and be comforted by this beautiful art again. Art deserves to be seen and shared by us, the community.”

Arthur Brandt, an art detective, told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper that the artwork could be worth up to €6m (£5m).

The painting was stolen on the day Van Gogh was born 167 years ago.

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