Vanished Van Goghs Go on View in Naples Next Week
Starting Monday, 6 February, the Capodimonte Museum in Naples will display two paintings paintings by French Post-Impressionist Vincent van Gogh. The compositions, View of the Sea at Scheveningen (1882) and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Neunen (1884/85) are significant in that they were both stolen from Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum in 2002 and sequestered in the grips of the Mafia until September 2016.
For many years the theft an the location of the works was a mystery. The thieves outsmarted the museum security by going through the roof, thereby allowing adequate time to snatch the two paintings and escape before authorities arrived. The thieves themselves were arrested two years later, but the whereabouts of the works remained unknown for more than a decade.
Since their recovery this past September, the paintings have undergone conservation to repair damage incurred during the heist. The works will remain on view until 26 February, when they will return to the Netherlands.
Further Reading:
Martin Bailey, “Stolen Van Gogh paintings to go on show in Naples” (The Art Newspaper, 3 February 2017).
“Due quadri di Van Gogh ritrovati in mostra al Museo di Capodimonte“(Napoli da Vivere, 26 January 2017).
Dario del Porto, “Van Gogh, condannati i boss. ”E ora mostra a Capodimonte“ (La Repubblica – Napoli, 20 January 2017).
View of the Sea at Scheveningen, 1882. Oil on paper mounted on canvas. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (image courtesy of The Art Newspaper).
Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Neunen, winter 1884 and autumn 1885. Oil on canvas. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (image courtesy of the Van Gogh Museum).
Posted by Alexis Culotta