Suspected art thief (58) is held over missing Van Gogh masterpiece

Dutch master Vincent van Gogh's painting titled The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring

Mike Corder

April 07 2021 02:30 AM

Dutch police arrested a suspect in the theft last year of two valuable paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Frans Hals from different museums, a spokeswoman said.

The paintings, however, remain missing.

In a statement posted on Twitter, police spokeswoman Maren Wonder said a 58-year-old man was arrested at his home in the Dutch town of Baarn, 40km southeast of Amsterdam. His identity was not released, in line with Dutch privacy guidelines.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t yet recovered the paintings and the investigation is continuing,” Ms Wonder said.

She called the arrest “a really important step in the investigation”.

Van Gogh’s The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884 was snatched from the Singer Laren museum east of Amsterdam in the early hours of March 30, 2020.

The museum was closed at the time due to a coronavirus lockdown.

The Hals work, Two Laughing Boys, was stolen some five months later from Museum Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden in Leerdam, about 50km south of Amsterdam.

Singer Laren spokeswoman Esther Driessen said: “The most important thing is that the painting returns as quickly as possible to the Groninger Museum, where it belongs.”

The Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden had no comment on the arrest.