Nazi-looted Portrait Found in Home of Dutch SS Collaborator's Descendants

A painting stolen from a Jewish art collector by the Nazis during World War Two has been found in the home of descendants of a Dutch SS collaborator, an art detective said. Portrait of a Young Girl by Dutch artist Toon Kelder is believed to have hung for decades in the home of the family, Arthur Brand reported.

He added that the painting has since been handed over to his team. The painting belonged to Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish art dealer who died while fleeing the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. He left behind a collection of more than 1,000 paintings.

The case came to Brand's attention through a man who said he was a descendant of the collaborator and was disgusted to learn his family had kept the artwork for years. Shortly after learning of the connection, the man asked his grandmother about the painting's history.

She told him it had been purchased during World War Two and described it as Jewish looted art stolen from Goudstikker. She said it was unsellable and instructed him not to tell anyone, according to the account given to Brand. The family, which changed its name at the end of the war, has admitted possessing the painting but denied knowing its true origin in a statement to Dutch media.

After learning of the painting's history, the family member contacted Brand through an intermediary. The family member told Dutch outlet De Telegraaf that he felt ashamed and that the painting should be returned to Goudstikker's heirs. In a statement to the same newspaper, the grandmother said she received it from her mother.

She added that now that she had been confronted, she understood that Goudstikker's heirs would want the painting back and that she had not known its origin. Brand launched an investigation after being informed of the painting's existence. He found a label on the back and the number 92 etched into its frame.

Brand searched the archives of a 1940 auction where much of Goudstikker's looted collection was sold. He located an item listed under number 92 titled Portrait of a Young Girl by Toon Kelder. Brand said the painting is believed to have been plundered by high-ranking Nazi Hermann Goering when Goudstikker fled for Britain in 1940.

It was then sold at auction before being passed down through the family. Brand contacted the lawyers of Goudstikker's heirs. The lawyers confirmed that the collector had previously owned six paintings by Toon Kelder and that these works had been included in the 1940 auction.

Brand told the BBC that the discovery was stunning and described it as the most bizarre case of his entire career. He said such paintings could sell for between thousands and tens of thousands if offered at auction. The sale of looted art is generally illegal in most countries because the works are considered to have been sold under duress.

However, Portrait of a Young Girl could potentially be sold because the statute of limitations on its theft has expired. Brand has previously recovered Nazi-looted art from World War Two, including pieces in the Louvre, the Dutch Royal Collection and numerous museums.

He noted that discovering a painting from the Goudstikker collection in the possession of the heirs of a Dutch Waffen-SS general stood out even among those cases. The family had the opportunity for decades to return the painting but chose not to, Brand said.

He later told the BBC without further explanation that the painting had been handed over to his team. This discovery draws parallels to a previous case in which an Italian master painting stolen from the Goudstikker collection appeared on the website of an estate agent selling a house in Argentina.

The painting was shown hanging in a property near Buenos Aires once owned by a senior Nazi official who moved to South America after the war. Police raided the property but the painting had been removed by the time authorities arrived.