‘Indiana Jones of the Art World’: Dutch detective Arthur Brand retrieves $3.2mn stolen Van Gogh

Police on Tuesday announced that a historic painting by the illustrious Vincent van Gogh that was stolen around three years ago was recovered by a Dutch art detective in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The precious Vincent van Gogh painting, according to the police, was stolen from a museum in a daring midnight heist during the coronavirus lockdown three and a half years ago.

Dutch art detective Arthur Brand took possession of the missing painting, at his Amsterdam home on Monday, stuffed in a blue IKEA bag, AFP reported.

The stolen painting is the 1884 “Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring”, which is worth between three to six three and six million euros ($3.2 million).

Brand, nicknamed “Indiana Jones of the Art World,” is renowned for his successful recovery of high-profile lost artworks, including the “Hitler’s Horses” bronze statues, Picasso paintings, and Oscar Wilde’s ring.

He said that confirming the painting as the stolen Van Gogh artwork was “one of the greatest moments of my life.”

“Arthur Brand, in cooperation with the Dutch police, has solved this matter,” Richard Bronswijk of the Dutch police arts crime unit confirmed. “This is definitely the real one, there’s no doubt about it.”

Brand 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, handed Brand the painting in a blue IKEA bag, covered with bubble wrap and stuffed in a pillow casing.

Brand has gained fame for his remarkable recoveries of stolen art, including the “Hitler’s Horses” bronze statues, a Picasso painting and a ring that once belonged to Oscar Wilde.

The painting was burgled from the Singer Laren Museum near Amsterdam on March 30, 2020, in a heist that made headlines around the world.