Last week, a painting stolen over forty years ago was finally returned to its original owner, Chatsworth House. The painting, A Double Portrait of Sir Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1640s) by Eramus Quelliness II, was stolen on May 26, 1979, and recently discovered at a regional auction house in France. Chatsworth House lent the work to the Towner Art Gallery for an exhibition featuring works by the Flemish Baroque artist Anthony Van Dyck.
Eramus Quelliness II’s A Double Portrait of Sir Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1640s). Image via Chatsworth House Trust.
“Smash and grab”
The exhibition did not go as planned. To the public’s astonishment, the gallery fell victim to a “smash and grab” raid after the exhibition. Thieves made off with A Double Portrait of Sir Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony Van Dyck, but left more valuable works behind – causing authorities to believe that the robbery was not well-planned out. While A Double Portrait looked more expensive than the drawings left behind, the original Van Dyck drawings the thieves left were much more valuable (and have sold for upwards of $2 million in recent years).
The thieves may not have been very knowledgeable about art. Even so, they disappeared without a trace. The painting had been feared lost since that night in May 1979.
Interior of Chatsworth House. Image via Chatsworth House Trust.
Miraculous Recovery
Until now!
In 2021, an art historian discovered that the work was listed for sale in the bucolic town of Toulon, France. They reported the finding to Chatsworth House, who happily stepped forward to claim the work.
It’s unclear how the piece made its way from the thieves to modern-day France. The Art Newspaper reports that the painting was sent to Toulon to be sold after the seller discovered it while cleaning out his late parent’s house.
The painting required extensive restoration. Today, the work shines with its former glory.
Collectible from Chatsworth House. Image via Chatsworth House Trust.
The Art Loss Register
This was a happy ending to a devastating art robbery. Art crime continues to plague valuable collections in public and private collections all over the world. To combat the problem, the Art Loss Register (ALR) currently holds and maintains the largest private database of lost, stolen, and looted art, antiquities and collectibles.
Works are added to the registry on behalf of victims of looting and theft, insurers, police forces and other interested parties. ALR also employs a unique due diligence service for their clients who are active in the art market to ensure that they are handling objects that do not have questionable provenance.
The ALR single-handedly provides the art industry’s best risk management tool for those seeking to buy and sell works of art and cultural heritage. Moreover, using ALR’s tools and databases speeds up recovery of missing works, because searching the database enables users to identify works that have been stolen – and to return them to their claimant for recovery.
To read more about how ALR helps its clients search, register and recover lost art, click here.