The work “Nowen’s Pastor’s Farm in Spring”, painted in 1884 by Van Gogh, had been loaned to the Singer Museum in the city of Laren from the Groninger Museum. In the middle of the night on March 30, 2020, a man broke into the museum by breaking a glass door and disappeared with the painting under his arm. The coup attracted international attention and the work was valued at between three and six million euros.
The man, known in the Dutch media as Nils M and a known art collector, was arrested in April 2021 and sentenced to eight years in prison for the theft of the Van Gogh painting and another work by the artist Frans Hals.
Negotiations stalled
After a few months, the Dutch art detective Arthur Brand was contacted by a source in the criminal world who had bought the Van Gogh painting from Nils M. The criminal organization that had the painting wanted to use it to exchange one of their members who was serving a prison sentence.
The negotiations failed and it was only two weeks ago that Arthur Brand was contacted again regarding “Nuenen’s pastor’s farm in the spring”, he tells AFP.
— It was from a man with no connection to the theft. He said he wanted to return the Van Gogh work because it only bothered him. I cooperated with the police and got the painting back, says Brand.
“Will be restored”
The painting was added relatively early in Van Gogh’s life, before he began painting the sunflowers and self-portraits with which he has become most associated. The work will now once again be exhibited at the Groninger Museum.
— I have thought that I will not live long enough to see it again. But I saw right away that it was the real painting. It has suffered some damage, but will be able to be restored, says Andreas Blühm, director of the museum, to De Telegraf.