According to news out of the Netherlands, a painting by Vincent van Gogh was stolen in an overnight heist from a museum that was shuttered to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
On loan from the Groninger Museum in Groningen, the Dutch master’s “The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884” was taken from the Singer Laren museum near Amsterdam.
“I’m shocked and unbelievably annoyed that this has happened,” said Singer Laren director Jan Rudolph de Lorm. “This beautiful and moving painting by one of our greatest artists stolen — removed from the community. It is very bad for the Groninger Museum, it is very bad for the Singer, but it is terrible for us all because art exists to be seen and shared by us, the community, to enjoy to draw inspiration from and to draw comfort from, especially in these difficult times.”
Police are investigating the smash-and-grab theft, and forensics and art theft experts are studying video footage and questioning possible witnesses. The value of the work, which was painted by van Gogh in 1884, was not immediately known.
In other van Gogh-related news, Australian arachnologists have discovered a new species of spider that has purple and yellow colors that resemble the famous painter’s “Starry Night.” Named Maratus Constellatus in honor of that connection, the spider is on the top right in the tweet below.
Meet Australia’s 7 newest species!
Last year I travelled the country collecting specimens of these new peacock spiders (some discovered by citizen scientists!) and spent countless hours in the lab studying them. The paper was published today!
Some welcome news in tough times. pic.twitter.com/sV1gURLqAi
— Joseph Schubert (@j_schubert__) March 26, 2020
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