Van Gogh and Cezanne Masterpieces Stolen from Dutch Museum

Art thieves smashed a window in the Amsterdam Municipal Museum early Friday and stole three valuable masterpieces, including works by Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cezanne. It was called the biggest art theft in Dutch history.

Museum director Wim Beeren said the stolen paintings are worth an estimated $52 million, although experts from Christie’s auction house in London placed their worth at $11 million.

The burglars broke a ground-floor window before dawn in the museum’s north wing, which is relatively sheltered from public view, said museum spokesman Maarten Bertheux. The thieves then walked through five galleries to reach the room where the works were hanging, he said.

Stolen were “Carnations,” an 1888 work by the Dutch painter Van Gogh; “Bottle With Apples,” a still life painted in 1894 by the French master Cezanne; and “The House of Maitre Billaud in Nevers,” an 1874 painting by Dutch artist Johan Jongkind.

Two other valuable Van Gogh paintings, “The Diggers” and “The Rocking Chair,” were hanging in the same gallery but were not taken.

Larger Works Not Taken

Rini Dippel, the museum’s deputy director, said they may have been left because they are substantially larger than the others.

The Municipal Museum houses a collection of about 3,000 works from the 19th and 20th centuries and is next door to the Van Gogh Museum, which has 220 paintings by the Dutch master, the world’s largest collection.

Beeren and other art experts speculated that the theft was commissioned by a private art collector, since the Van Gogh and the Cezanne are too well known to be sold publicly and since the other Van Gogh works were not taken.

“I’ve got the impression that they chose the paintings with a clear purpose in mind,” Beeren said. “This’ll go straight to somebody’s room or home.”

“There’s a very good reporting system (on art thefts) these days . . . . If they’re offered for sale at a bona fide art dealer or auction house, that will be known right away,” said Fred Leeman of the Van Gogh Museum.

Bertheux said that there was no one in the museum at the time of the burglary. Around-the-clock surveillance by guards was abolished in 1975 to save money.

“This is a terrible loss of prestige for (museum) security,” Beeren told reporters.

The paintings were not insured against theft.

Beeren said he based his loss estimate of $52 million on the fact that “there is a Van Gogh involved, and recent price developments (for Van Goghs) have been dramatic.”

In March, 1987, Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” fetched $39.8 million at a London auction. In November, an unidentified collector paid $53 million for Van Gogh’s “Irises” in New York.

Dippel said experts from Christie’s based their estimate of $11 million on black and white photographs of the paintings in a museum catalogue. According to Christie’s, the Van Gogh is worth $1.6 million to $2.1 million; the Cezanne is worth $7.9 million; and the Jongkind is worth $147,000.