
Van Gogh Museum - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Posted by:
Metro2
N 52° 21.489 E 004° 52.888
31U E 628124 N 5802539
There were two big art thefts from this Museum in 1991 and 2002. The paintings stolen in 2002 have still not been recovered and the crime is on the FBI's Top Ten Art Crimes list.
Waymark Code: WMK199
Location: Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Date Posted: 01/28/2014
Views: 18
The Wikipedia page for the Museum (
visit link) has this paragraph about the crimes:
"Art thefts
In 1991, twenty paintings were stolen from the museum, among them Van Gogh's early painting The Potato Eaters. Although the thieves escaped from the building, 35 minutes later all stolen paintings were recovered from an abandoned car. Three paintings – Wheatfield with Crows, Still Life with Bible, and Still Life with Fruit – were severely torn during the theft. Four men, including two museum guards, were convicted for the theft to six or seven-year sentences. It is considered to be the largest art theft in the Netherlands since the Second World War.
In 2002, two paintings were stolen from the museum, Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen and View of the Sea at Scheveningen. Two Dutchmen were convicted for the theft to four-and-a-half-year sentences, but the paintings were never recovered. The museum has offered a reward of €100,000 for information that leads to the recovery of the paintings. The FBI Art Crime Team has listed the robbery on their Top Ten Art Crimes list, and estimates the combined value of the paintings at 30 million US dollars."