Brussels art theft mystery: Has Van Buuren found its stolen paintings?

Art robberies always make for good adventures, whether it’s The Maltese Falcon or Indiana Jones, so it’s exciting to imagine what is going on behind the walls of the Van Buuren Museum in Brussels, where the denouement of a story that began nearly two years ago is being played out.

At the end of a Tuesday afternoon in the summer of 2013, thieves entered the museum by a back door and made off with 10 minor works and two more important paintings: “Shrimps and Shells” by James Ensor and “De Denkster” (“Woman Thinking”) by Dutch painter Kees Van Dongen (pictured). The Van Dongen alone was valued at €1.2 million.

Neither the thieves nor the paintings ever showed up – until now. Reports leaked last week that the museum’s insurance company was in talks with person or persons unknown with a view to having the paintings returned on payment of some kind of ransom. 

The Brussels prosecutor’s office said that “it would be irresponsible, given the … interests of the investigation, to make this information known”.

The Van Buuren Museum in the Uccle commune is housed in the former home of David Van Buuren, a banker and collector, and his wife Alice, who bequeathed the house to the state in 1975. Among others, the collection contains works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Van Gogh and Rik Wouters as well as an extensive collection of paintings by Gustave Van de Woestyne.

In the meantime, the museum last week won a Europa Nostra award for conservation for its impeccable gardens, which are also open to the public.

photo: Courtesy Van Buuren Museum