Investigators have recovered a pair of “priceless” Van Gogh paintings swiped from the painter’s namesake museum in Amsterdam in 2002, officials announced Friday.
The paintings, Seascape at Scheveningen (1882) and Congregation leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen (1884/85), had been damaged and were missing their frames while they were stored in unsuitable conditions over the past 14 years, according to officials.
Still, officials said, the works of art by the Dutch master were in “fairly good condition.”
Italian authorities in Naples unearthed the paintings during an on-going, large-scale investigation into organized crime in the region.
It was unclear where the paintings had been stashed and when they would be returned to the museum.
Nevertheless, the discovery of the canvasses was greeted with celebration by museum officials.
‘‘They are the real paintings!,” cheered Van Gogh Museum Director Axel Ruger. “After all those years, you no longer dare to count on a possible return.”
In 2002, crooks reportedly used a ladder to climb up to the museum’s roof and then smashed a window with a sledgehammer to gain entry to the gallery. They sidestepped patrolling security guards and bypassed infrared security sensors before swiping the paintings and slipping back out undetected.
Two years later, Dutch art thief Octave Durham, also known as “The Monkey,” and a cohort were found guilty of the crime, but the paintings were not recovered at the time.
The illustrations were created by Van Gogh early in his career. “Seascape” is made up of actual grains of sand that were stirred up from the beach as Van Gogh worked. “Congregation” depicts a church in the south of the Netherlands where the artist’s father was the pastor.
Known as one of the world’s greatest painters, Van Gogh is perhaps most famous for cutting off a portion of his ear during a psychotic episode.
Born in the Netherlands in 1853, Van Gogh died young, broke and depressed at the age of 37 in France.
With AP wires
