DutchNews.nl - Picasso, Monet and Matisse among seven works stolen from Kunsthal

Seven paintings by leading artists and of 'very considerable value' were stolen from Rotterdam's Kunsthal art gallery in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Police and forensic experts are now combing the gallery for clues but a spokesman told RTL news it is still unclear how the thieves got into the building. Police were alerted to the theft after the security company reported an alarm going off. The burglary took place between 03.00 and 04.00 hours.

The paintings, all but one from the prestigious Triton Foundation collection, were on display as part of the gallery's 20th anniversary celebrations.

The stolen paintings include Pablo Picasso's Tête d’Arlequin, Claude Monet's views of Waterloo and Charing Cross bridges in London and Lucian Freud's Woman with Eyes Closed (pictured). Other works are by Matisse, Gauguin and Meyer de Haan.

Former Kunsthal director Wim van Krimpen told Radio 1 many of the paintings in the Triton collection are worth over €1m but no official value for the haul has yet been given. Art historian Jhim Lamoree told RTL news the stolen works are worth 'at least €100m'.

The Kunsthal's website describes the Triton collection as one which 'comprises representative works by the most important and influential artists of the late nineteenth century to the present day'.

It is a private collection containing some 250 paintings, drawings and sculptures covering 170 influential artists.

Job Ubbens, director of Amsterdam auction house Christie's, told ANP stolen art is very hard to sell and that the burglary is 'a very stupid act' if the thieves hope to make money from the paintings.

However, the paintings could have been stolen to order, he said. 'In that case it will end up on a wall somewhere and never be seen again.'

A third option could be that the paintings will be held to ransom. That is the most likely option, Ubbens is quoted as saying.

RTL news reports that the heist is one of the three biggest art thefts in the Netherlands of the past 20 yeears.

In 1991, 20 paintings were stolen from Amsterdam's Van Gogh museum with an estimated value of €500m. They were found in a stolen car and three were very badly damaged.

In 1988, three Van Goghs with a value of €113m were taken from the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. They were also recovered in a damaged state and two men served 2.5 years in jail.

Readers' Comments

100m and no security guards? They deserve to get stolen and whoever set this up should be fired.

By richard | 16 October 2012 5:08 PM

3 Van Goghs with a value of 113m from one of the greatest artists of all time and the guys got a little over 2 years? What a joke and I laugh at that. They should have been sentenced to a whole lot longer.

By Destiny | 16 October 2012 7:05 PM

No problem. The sophisticated GPS system attached to these priceless objects by this responsible organization will ensure they are soon recovered.

By Gordon | 16 October 2012 7:12 PM

I am truly shocked that the management should have been so thoughtless.

I do hope they have to pay for the losses.

I do not share Ubben's hopes that they will be held to ransom. Pictures of this quality find homes quickly and for very tidy prices.

The Kunsthal directors should be very, very worried!

By Gemma | 16 October 2012 8:06 PM

Hope they are recovered for all to see again.

By Declan | 17 October 2012 12:44 AM

Hard to say the thieves are stupid, they have impeccable taste! This does expose the need for far more effective control of organised crime. No matter how sophisticated the security system is, organised crime will eventually find a way to neutralise it. When they steal fine art it is us, the public, who lose the joy of just looking and seeing it.
Illegal hard drugs, with the pyramid selling scheme behind it, provides far too many low level addict criminals. Dutch Police would be more effective if they concentrated on hard drugs.

By Max Harmreduction | 17 October 2012 1:26 AM

Hope the government learn from it and stop allocating taxpayers hardearned monies to such things, maybe the saving can also help to reduce btw.

By ufo | 17 October 2012 8:39 AM

I can't believe that these paintings were safer in their original home than at a museum. Shame on the Dutch! I still hope thieves get caught and treasures recovered safely. I hope the thieves rot in jail for the rest of their miserable lives.

By Tari | 17 October 2012 8:55 AM

I don't understand why the police cannot figure out how the thieves got in. The museum has a state of the art technological security system using cameras - what on earth were the cameras looking at if not the thieves.

By jaycee | 17 October 2012 9:02 PM