The stolen painting by Bruegel has been found after 50 years in a Dutch museum.
Kyiv • UNN
A private detective and an art magazine have discovered a painting by Bruegel that was stolen from a Polish museum in 1974. The masterpiece, which was likely taken by intelligence agents, was found at an exhibition in the Gaudí Museum.
A private detective and an art magazine helped uncover the case of a Flemish masterpiece that was likely stolen by agents of the secret services. The painting by Bruegel was stolen from Poland in 1974. The artwork was found in a local Dutch museum. This was reported by The Guardian, as conveyed by UNN.
Details
It is noted that thanks to the efforts of an art detective and an antique magazine, the stolen Flemish masterpiece was found. The painting hung on the wall of one of the provincial Dutch museums.
The painting by Pieter Bruegel the Younger, measuring 17 cm in width, depicting a farmer's wife holding hot coals in one hand and a bucket of water in the other, was likely stolen from a Polish museum by secret service agents in 1974.
According to the publication, the 17th-century painting hung in the National Museum in Gdańsk (Poland) when on April 24, 1974, a cleaner knocked it off the wall, the frame broke, and she saw that the painting had been replaced with a photograph. A sketch by the Flemish artist Antonis van Dyck titled "Crucifixion" was also replaced with a copy.
These two works were on the "most wanted" list in Poland until last year when the Dutch art and antique magazine Vind wrote about a new exhibition at the Gouda museum, where Bruegel was loaned by a private collector. Vind tracked down a black-and-white photograph of the painting in Poland and contacted Brand to find out if it could be the same painting.
After finding five similar paintings by Bruegel and contacting the Dutch and Polish police, as well as the museum, Brand found a match, and Poland officially requested the return of the artworks.
Reminder
Italian police discovered a workshop where forgeries of famous 19th-20th century paintings were made. A total of 71 paintings and materials for their production were seized along with fake certificates of authenticity.
