A painting stolen by the Nazis from a Jewish art collector during World War II has been found in the home of a descendant of a notorious Dutch SS collaborator, an art detective claims.
Portrait of a Young Girl by Dutch artist Toon Kelder is believed to have hung in Hendrik Seyffardt’s home for decades, Arthur Brand said. He later added that the project has been handed over to his team.
The painting belonged to a Jewish art dealer who died while fleeing the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, leaving behind a collection of more than 1,000 paintings.
Brand was brought to his attention by a man who told him he was a descendant of Sefat and that he was “disgusted” to learn that his family had kept the artwork for years.
Seifert was a Dutch general who commanded a unit of Waffen-SS volunteers on the Eastern Front before being assassinated by resistance fighters in 1943.
Shortly after learning that he was related to a Nazi collaborator, the man approached his grandmother to ask about the history of the painting.
She is said to have told him the work, purchased during World War II, was “a Jewish looted art piece from [art dealer Jacques] Goodstick. It cannot be sold. Don’t tell anyone. “
The family, which changed its name at the end of the war, admitted to owning the painting but denied knowing its true origin, according to a statement in Dutch media.
After learning the painting’s history, Brand’s family contacted Brand through an intermediary, believing the only way to return the painting was to make the story public.
“I am ashamed. The painting should be returned to Goudstikker’s heirs,” the family member told Dutch outlet De Telegraaf.
In a statement to the same newspaper, his grandmother said: “I received it from my mother.
“Now that you’re confronting me like this, I understand that Goodstick’s heirs want the painting back. I didn’t know that.”
After learning of the painting’s existence, Brand launched his own investigation.
He found a label on the back of the painting with the number 92 engraved on the frame.
[Arthur Brand]
Brand then searched the archives of the 1940 auction where much of Goudstikker’s looted collection was sold, and discovered an object titled “Portrait of a Young Girl” by Toon Kelder under lot 92.
Brand believes the painting was looted by Hermann Goering, one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, when Goodstick fled to England in 1940.
It was then sold to Seifert at auction and then passed down to his descendants, Brand said.
After launching the investigation, Brand contacted lawyers for Goodstick’s heirs, who, he said, confirmed that the collector had previously owned six of Toon Caird’s paintings.
He added that lawyers had also confirmed to him that the paintings had appeared at auction in 1940, where Brand believed Portrait of a Young Girl had been sold.
Brand told the BBC the discovery was “shocking” and described it as “the strangest case of my whole career”.
He added that if the painting was sold, it would probably fetch a good price.
“Paintings like this can sell for thousands to tens of thousands,” Brand said.
However, the sale of looted art is often illegal in most countries because the works are seen as being sold under duress.
In this case, Portrait of a Young Girl may be sold because the statute of limitations for theft has expired.
Brand continued: “I have recovered art looted by the Nazis during World War II, including from the Louvre, the Royal Netherlands Collection and numerous museums.”
“But the discovery of a painting from the famous Goudstikker collection owned by the heirs of a notorious Dutch Waffen-SS general is truly the most significant.”
He added: “The family, of course, did not accept any personal culpability for Sefat’s own crimes over the decades and they had the opportunity to do the right thing and return the painting. They chose not to do so.”
However, he later told the BBC, without further explanation: “The painting has been given to us.”
The discovery is similar to a previous case, when an Italian Master painting stolen by the Nazis from the Goudstikker collection appeared on a website for an Argentinian real estate agent selling a home.
A photo shows a portrait of a woman by Giuseppe Ghislandi hanging above a sofa at a property near Buenos Aires that was once owned by a high-ranking Nazi official who moved to South America after World War II.
The discovery led to police raiding the property, but by the time authorities arrived, the painting appeared to have been dismantled and moved.