Van Gogh's “Spring Garden” was damaged in eight places after the theft

to Float A Van Gogh painting, stolen in 2020, was damaged in at least eight places. There are deep scratches in the center of the painting, the upper left corner is broken and the varnish layer is damaged. Restaurant owner Marjan de Visser made the announcement on Wednesday afternoon during a press conference at Depot Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, ANP news agency reported. However, she is optimistic that the painting can be restored to its original condition.

In 2020, the artwork was stolen from the Singer Museum in Laren, which had loaned it from the Groninger Museum for an exhibition. When the art thief was caught and convicted more than a year later, the painting had not yet been found. The work resurfaced in September 2023, through the intervention of art investigator Arthur Brand. Such art thefts are rare, but Van Gogh's paintings are popular with thieves: the world-famous artist's paintings have been stolen from Dutch museums three times in the past 40 years.

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to Floatalso Spring Garden: The garden of the rectory at Nuenen in springIt is an oil painting measuring 25 by 57 cm dating back to 1884, painted by Van Gogh while living with his parents in Nuenen, before moving to France. In Nuenen, a village in North Brabant, Van Gogh painted his first masterpiece Potato eaters. Van Gogh also made several drawings of the garden of his father's Protestant rectory there, which he captures in this painting.

Andreas Blom, director of the Groninger Museum, expects that the interest generated by the theft will at most increase the value of the work. Before the theft, the value of the painting was estimated at three to six million euros. the Float It will be on display in a display case at Boijmans van Beuningen Depot until the end of February. From March 29 it will be on display at the Groninger Museum as part of the exhibition backstage. It will not be restored until next year, which is expected to take a year.

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