Stolen Vincent Van Gogh Painting Mysteriously Returned in IKEA Bag
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An 1884 Vincent van Gogh painting has returned home to the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands three years after being stolen—delivered in a reusable IKEA shopping bag.
"The Groninger Museum is extremely happy and relieved that the work is back. It is currently in good company in the Van Gogh Museum," said Groninger Museum director Andreas Blühm in a statement shared to the museum's website last week.
"We are very grateful to our colleagues in Amsterdam for their hospitality. On behalf of the all our staff, all Groningen residents and visitors, we are very grateful to everyone who contributed to this good outcome. Arthur Brand played a key role in this case and the museum greatly appreciates that," it continued.
The painting in question is called The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring, an oil painting completed in the late 1880s. It was stolen on March 30, 2020, from the Singer Laren Museum while on loan for an exhibition.
The art's return came about when a Dutch art crimes detective named Arthur Brand received a message on WhatsApp from an anonymous source.
He told The Washington Post, "I discussed it with the Dutch police and it was obvious from the beginning that this person had nothing to do with the theft. This was a guy who just wanted to hand it over, so we went along with it."
Brand shared a video on his Instagram of himself unwrapping the painting, and while there were a few scratches, it was otherwise in good condition. It was confirmed that the painting was genuine, and the museum was contacted so that it could be returned.
Museum director Blühm told The Washington Post of his reaction to the painting's recovery: "It was an incredibly emotional reunion and truly an amazing day. The painting is an integral part of our collection and of our local cultural heritage, and thinking we could have lost that forever was terrible.”
In 2021, a man named Nils M was arrested in connection with the robbery of the van Gogh painting, as reported by ABC News. He was also connected to the theft of the painting Two Laughing Boys by Frans Hals, which is still missing.
