3 Paintings Worth Up to $52 Million Stolen in Holland

Thieves smashed a window at the Municipal Museum today and made off with three 19th-Century paintings worth up to $52 million, including works by Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cezanne.

Museum officials said it was the largest art theft in modern Dutch history. Stolen were “Carnations,” an 1888 work by Van Gogh; “The House of Maitre Billaud in Nevers,” by Dutch painter Johan Jongkind, from 1874, and “Bottle With Apples,” an 1894 still-life by Cezanne.

Museum Director Wim Beeren estimated their combined value at $52 million, but the Christie’s auction firm in London set their worth at $11 million.

The theft at the downtown museum, also known as the Stedelijk Museum, occurred about 5 a.m. when someone broke a window in the building and triggered an alarm.

Museum spokesman Maarten Bertheux said no one was inside at the time. He said the museum’s estimated 3,000 works are protected only by an electronic alarm system when the museum is closed. Round-the-clock surveillance by security personnel was abolished as an economy measure in 1975, Beeren said.