Stolen Dutch art found in Ukraine risks being sold illegally: Museum
THE HAGUE (AFP) - Two dozen 17th-century Dutch paintings stolen a decade ago have resurfaced in Ukraine, a Dutch museum revealed on Monday (Dec 7), warning that the works were in danger of being sold on the black market after its own efforts to retrieve them failed.
The 24 paintings by Jan Linsen, Jan van Goyen, Jacob Waben and other Dutch artists were taken when robbers broke into the Westfries Museum in the northwestern city of Hoorn in early 2005.
The robbers also stole 70 pieces of silverware before disappearing without a trace, the museum said in a statement.
Five months ago, two men claiming to be from the ultra-nationalist Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists militia entered the Dutch embassy in Kiev claiming to have stumbled upon the complete collection of paintings.
There was no mention of the silverware.
They said they had found the art in a villa in war-torn eastern Ukraine, where Kiev's forces are battling pro-Russian separatists.
As proof, the men showed a picture of one of the paintings alongside a recent Ukrainian newspaper edition, the Westfries Museum said.
"The men said they wanted to give back the paintings" but did not want Ukrainian authorities involved, according to the museum.
The Dutch government decided to give the city of Hoorn a chance to negotiate their return and employed an art historian who specialises in tracing stolen works to act as an intermediary.
But after meeting with the militia members, the expert, Arthur Brand, said "it was clear their estimate of the art was totally unrealistic," according to the museum.
"They wanted 50 million euros (S$76 million).""We offered them 50,000 euros as a 'finder's fee' -- and as a token of our gratitude -- but we refused to pay them money for our very own paintings," he said. "We started the talks with high hopes, but they had a very inflated idea about the actual value of the paintings."
While the paintings were valued at 10 million euros when they were stolen, Brand said that judging by the state of one of the paintings, the collection was now worth 500,000 euros at most.
The militia members then claimed a "finders' fee" of five million euros "and not a cent less," after which negotiations reached a dead end.
Fears that the works would next turn up on the stolen art circuit prompted the museum to go public with the saga.
"The reason for our revelation is that there are very strong indications the paintings are now being offered for sale to other parties," Westfries Museum director Ad Geerdink told a press conference.
"Some may even already have been sold." The museum said it hoped potential buyers would be warned as well as aware of the artworks' real value.
The museum however said the paintings are "priceless to us, as they tell the story about a fascinating time in West Friesland during the Golden Age."
Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Bert Koenders said he had contacted Ukrainian officials at the "highest level" to get the paintings back.
"It's a bad situation and if the paintings are over there they should be returned as soon as possible," Koenders told the NOS public broadcaster.
Art Hostage Comments:
Arthur Brand has consistently pledged never to pay for the recovery of stolen art and has been critical of those who have paid any kind of reward or finders fee.
In this case however, he has agreed to offer a token finders fee, or in reality a ransom.
Still, Arthur has changed tact and has valued the Westfries stolen art haul very low indeed, therefore making any ransom offer poultry in comparison with the true value.
All of this was to no avail and now there is a Mexican stand-off.
It must be said, that perhaps Arthur Brand had no intention of paying anything at all, and was only trying to sting those with the Westfries stolen art haul and when it was revealed, Police would swoop? That said, a sting may not have been possible as allegations of Ukrainian Secret Service involvement appear and the current holders of the Westfries stolen art haul are paramilitaries.
West Frisian stolen art located in Ukraine, but unattainable
The art that was stolen in 2005 from the Westfries Museum in Hoorn is located in Ukraine. All attempts to recover the 17th century paintings and bring them back to Hoorn have failed, however. Contact with the present owners of the stolen art, as well as diplomatic efforts on the highest levels have not amounted to anything. Because the collection may be on the brink of being sold to others and because it is in a steadily deteriorating condition, Hoorn is now looking for publicity on a national as well as international scale to deter potential buyers and to expose the practices of the Ukrainian art criminals who have contacts on the highest political levels.
On the night of January 9, 2005, 24 paintings and 70 pieces of silverware, the heart of the 17th and 18th century collection, were stolen from the Westfries Museum during a burglary. For years, the municipality of Hoorn had been hoping that the paintings and silver would resurface when last year, one of the stolen paintings first appeared on a Ukrainian website. In July 2015, two individuals reported to the Dutch embassy in Kiev who said that they represented a Ukrainian volunteer battalion. This OUN militia claimed to have the complete collection of stolen paintings from the Westfries Museum in their possession. A photo showing one of the paintings accompanied by a current Ukrainian newspaper was presented as proof for this claim.
The militia stated that it was prepared to hand over the paintings to the Netherlands on certain conditions, one of which was that the Ukrainian authorities were not to be involved.
After the embassy informed the Dutch police and justice department, they decided to offer the municipality of Hoorn the opportunity to contact the owners of the stolen art themselves. Because the municipality of Hoorn had no experience in such matters, they decided to bring in Mr. Arthur Brand who specializes in art crimes and tracking down stolen art.
Wrong value expectations
Brand noticed during the initial interactions that the present owners had a completely unrealistic idea of the value of the stolen paintings. They estimated the value at 50 million euros. Brand presented a research report to his Ukrainian contacts that showed that, based on recent auction proceeds of comparable works of the same painters, the entire collection should be estimated at a minimum of 250,000 euros and a maximum of 1.3 million euros, if in good condition. Because the latter did not appear to be the case, he estimated the current market value at no more than 500,000 euros. On behalf of the municipality of Hoorn, Brand offered the militia a compensation, but received no response to the offer. The other party contended that a 5 million euro finder’s fee was in order and would not settle for less
whereupon the municipality urged the ministry of Foreign Affairs to attempt to expedite the case along diplomatic channels. Talks on the highest political levels were held but to no avail. At present, there are serious indications that the current owners of the stolen art are attempting to sell it to others. Further research by Brand shows that other highly placed individuals are operating behind the scenes of the volunteer battalion. The stolen art is used as a pawn in a non-transparent Ukrainian political arena riddled with internal power struggles, favouritism and corruption.
Sounding the alarm
The Westfries Museum has but one interest: to return the looted art to Hoorn as soon as possible before the collection is sold off in parts or deteriorates any further. According to the museum director Ad Geerdink: “We have done everything we can and have reached a dead end. Now that it seems that the art works are disappearing again, we want to sound the alarm to let potential buyers know that they are dealing with stolen art, to give a correct representation of the actual value of the art works, but also to send a signal that these art works only belong in Hoorn. They are invaluable to the story we are telling about the extremely riveting period of the Golden Age in West Friesland.”
Mayor Yvonne van Mastrigt has expressed the hope that the Ukrainian government realizes that they have a responsibility in this matter and that they can play an important part in returning the stolen art to Hoorn.
Further information
Images of all the stolen works can be found in this message.
At the end of this message (next page), please find attached a timeline of the most important facts and developments.
Timeline:
January 2014
A Dutch police detective discovers a colour image of one of the missing art works on a mysterious Ukrainian website believed to be the painting Rebecca en Eliezer by Jan Linsen. However, because the Westfries Museum is only in possession of black and white photos of the stolen art, a colour representation is deemed sufficient evidence to prove that this is one of the stolen pieces.
July 2015:
A phone call is made to the Dutch embassy in Kiev by someone claiming to speak on behalf of the Ukrainian volunteer battalion Saint Mary and that this battalion is in possession of the complete collection of paintings.
August 4:
First meeting between two representatives of the volunteer battalion and Arthur Brand, followed by several contacts.
September:
The museum management requests the Dutch ambassador in Ukraine to attempt to expedite the process along diplomatic channels. Foreign intelligence services are also notified by Arthur Brand’s contacts.
October:
Knowledgeable informants notify Brand that Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of the right-wing extremist party Svoboda, is pulling the strings behind the scenes. The name Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, former head of the secret service is repeatedly mentioned.
November:
Negotiations do not yield any results. Brand receives information that a group of foreign criminals is offered a collection of 16 Dutch Masters. The accompanying photo shows that the collection being offered is comprised of some of the works from the Westfries Museum. Aside from that, there is also a Ukrainian lawyer that is attempting to sell the paintings via foreign channels.
List of paintings and silver objects that were stolen from the Westfries Museum on januari 10, 2005.
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