Nazi-looted painting found in home of Dutch SS collaborator's descendants, art detective says

A painting stolen by the Nazis from Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker has been found in the home of descendants of a notorious Dutch SS collaborator.

According to art detective Arthur Brand, who described this as "the most bizarre case of my entire career," the Portrait of a Young Girl, by Dutch artist Toon Kelder, is believed to have hung for decades in the home of Hendrik Seyffardt's family. Seyffardt commanded a Waffen-SS unit of Dutch volunteers on the eastern front before being assassinated by resistance fighters in 1943. A Nazi state funeral was held for him in The Hague, with a wreath sent by Adolf Hitler.

Brand, who had solved numerous other high-profile cases of stolen art, says he was approached by a man who said he was a descendant of Seyffardt and was "disgusted" to learn his family had kept the artwork for years. It was hanging in the hallway of Seyffardt's granddaughter, who is also the man's grandmother. When the man asked his grandmother about the painting's history, she told him it was "Jewish looted art, stolen from Goudstikker. It is unsellable. Don't tell anyone."

Launching his own investigation, Brand noted the painting had a Goudstikker label on the back and the number "92" carved into the frame. He searched the archives of a 1940 auction where part of the looted Goudstikker collection was sold and found item No. 92: Portrait of a Young Girl. It is believed that the painting was plundered by senior Nazi official Hermann Göring when Goudstikker fled to Britain in 1940, then sold to Seyffardt at auction and passed down through generations.

Lawyers representing the Goudstikker heirs confirmed the artwork was looted and called for its return. Unfortunately, police could not act, as the theft has passed the statute of limitations. Additionally, the Dutch Restitutions Committee cannot compel private individuals to return artworks.

However, according to a post by Brand on social media, the painting had been handed over to his team.

Brand said, "I have recovered Nazi-looted art from World War Two before, including pieces in the Louvre, the Dutch Royal Collection, and numerous museums. But discovering a painting from the famous Goudstikker collection, in the possession of the heirs of a notorious Dutch Waffen-SS general, truly tops everything."