THE ARCHIVE BY COUNTRY
Published reports from our archive, newest first.
A country may refer to the theft, recovery, return or legal proceedings. A case can be linked to more than one country.
95 reports · Page 1 / 5
Conservators used a reversible treatment to reintroduce a soldier who had been painted out of a Pieter de Hooch courtyard scene. They drew on a surviving version at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The Mauritshuis retitled its painting Figures in a Courtyard. The image shows the work before treatment.
The Dutch committee recommended returning Fishermen by the Lakeshore to Jacques Goudstikker’s legal successors. This painting was outside the scope of the earlier restitution applications it reviewed.
The Dutch committee linked thirty items to the J. Stodel dealership, including a Louis XVI-style chest of drawers, and recommended return to the legal successors of Salomon and Bernhard Stodel.
The committee recommended rejection on succession grounds. The applicants had been excluded from the estate of their father, who was Abraham Citroen’s son.
Dutch prosecutors announced the return of the Coțofenești Helmet and two of three Dacian gold bracelets stolen from the Drents Museum in January 2025. The third bracelet remained missing at publication. Three suspects’ trial was due to begin on 14 April 2026.
The Dutch committee linked sixteen objects or groups to the businesses of Abraham and Alexander van Leeuwen. Its advice specifies that one inventory item should be returned once it is located.
After two years of research, the Rijksmuseum attributed Vision of Zacharias in the Temple to Rembrandt. The painting had fallen out of the accepted body of his work in 1960 and re-emerged from a private collection.
After a 2024 public appeal, a private collector lent Young Man with a High Fur Hat and Gorget (1638) to Museum De Lakenhal. The painting had previously been in the Getty collection and was last sold in 2016. Researchers regard the sitter as a possible self-portrait of the anonymous Master I.S.
The committee recommended return for three inventory groups and rejection for eleven others. The claim covered objects linked to Amsterdam antiques dealer Louis Morpurgo.
The Dutch National Archives confirmed the return of 25 items, including seventeenth-century records of the Dutch East India Company. The items were found in an attic and passed to art detective Arthur Brand, who worked with police and the archives. Brand’s photograph, published by The Art Newspaper, shows a recovered ship log compiled by Michiel de Ruyter.
The Dutch committee recommended returning the Fruit Still Life, NK 2856, in a restitution application from the Dutch Order of Freemasons. Image: Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE).
The Mauritshuis presented new technical and conservation research on three paintings. It retained its studio-copy attribution for Portrait of Rembrandt with a Gorget, attributed Study of an Old Man to the studio despite a likely genuine signature, and left the authorship of Tronie of an Old Man open. The accompanying image shows the studio copy with the gorget.
The Dutch committee recommended that the minister return Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp’s painting in the Netherlands Art Property Collection in the Gosschalk case. Image: Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE).
The recommendation in the Gustav Cramer case concerns an ancient bronze portrait bust from the circle of Emperor Hadrian in the Netherlands Art Property Collection.
The Dutch committee advised returning the drawing of the artist’s daughter and wife reading at a round table, then held by the Rijksmuseum. Image: Rijksmuseum.
The committee recommended returning three works to Abraham Nijstad’s legal successors, including landscapes by Abraham Hondius and Andreas Schelfhout, and rejecting the four remaining claims.
The Dutch committee recommended returning the two-door cabinet, NK 260, to the heirs of Mozes Mogrobi.
After five years of research and the re-stretching of the canvas, eight Rijksmuseum conservators began removing varnish from The Night Watch. The work took place in a glass enclosure in the gallery, allowing visitors to observe the treatment.
Prints depicting Elizabeth II and Margrethe II from Reigning Queens were taken. Two other prints were damaged and left behind.
Two Women’s Heads, RP-T-1947-25. Rijksmuseum · Public Domain. Image source ↗
The Dutch committee traced the anonymous drawing to Arthur and Gisela Feldmann and recommended its return to their heirs. The Rijksmuseum records it as RP-T-1947-25.
Case diagram by ArtTraceX · Hiegentlich collection · Porcelain figures · NK 933 A–B. Image source ↗
The committee recommended returning two glazed porcelain figures, NK 933 A–B, to the heirs of Aron Salomon Hiegentlich. The occupying authorities liquidated his antiques business.
