The painting was taken on the artists’ 167th birthday
A Van Gogh painting that was stolen from the Singer Laren museum on Sunday night is the property of the Groninger Museum. The museum in Laren had the painting “Spring Garden, the vicarage garden in Nuenen in the spring” on loan. Groninger Museum Director Andreas Blühm is shocked at the theft. “This is really very bad. The value of a Van Gogh painting cannot be expressed in money! Every Van Gogh is priceless.”
The theft of the painting was announced on Monday during a press conference by the directors of both museums. The burglars are said to have entered the museum at around 3:15 am by forcing the glass front door. According to the director of the museum, the security of the building worked entirely according to protocol- but did not stop the thieves from making off with an exceptionally valuable painting.
Director Blühm heard about the theft on Monday morning and was shocked. According to Blühm, this is the only painting by Van Gogh that was in the possession of the Groninger Museum. “We do have some drawings, but this painting was part of our permanent collection. We occasionally lend it to other museums, but then it must be a really good exhibition.”
Van Gogh’s work has been viewable in public in Groningen since 1933. The Groninger Museum has been the owner of the painting since 1962. “The value of this painting cannot be expressed in terms of money. Every Van Gogh painting is priceless. Of course this work is insured, but we do not make any statements about the insurance value.”
The museum director hopes that police investigations will lead to the painting being found. “It is a theft of a work that belongs to all of us. It must be returned as soon as possible and shown to the public. However, you don’t know how long that will take and how you will get the painting back. ”
The Groninger Museum will continue to collaborate with Singer Laren. “We will not be put off by this. We will continue to work together and we will continue to support beautiful exhibitions with loans.”
At the end of last year, the Drents Museum and the Van Gogh Museum purchased a smaller Van Gogh painting for 2.8 million euros. The painting ‘Weed burning farmer’ was painted a year earlier by Van Gogh. The canvas is now on display in the Drents Museum.
Image: The Singer Laren museum by Wikimedia user Drenthe007. License here.
