Van Gogh painting stolen from Dutch museum during virus shutdown
Museum director Evert van Os says institution is ‘angry, shocked, sad’ at the theft.
A painting by Vincent van Gogh was stolen in an overnight smash-and-grab raid on a Dutch museum that was closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, police and the museum said Monday.
The Singer Laren museum southeast of Amsterdam said that The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884 was taken in the early hours of Monday. By early afternoon, all that could be seen from the outside of the museum was a large white panel covering a door in the building’s glass facade.
Museum General Director Evert van Os said the institution that houses the collection of late American couple William and Anna Singer is “angry, shocked, sad” at the theft.
The value of the work, which was on loan from the Groninger Museum in the northern Dutch city of Groningen, was not immediately known. Van Gogh’s paintings, when they rarely come up for sale, fetch millions at auction.
The painting was the only work stolen. Police are investigating the theft.
