The secret life of a stolen Van Gogh

Late one morning in September 2023, the famous Dutch art detective Arthur Brande was

pacing around his Amsterdam apartment, waiting for a special delivery. And then a twelve o'clock, the doorbell rang. Brande looked out the window, and on the stew piece all man, who he'd been expecting, holding an iconic big blue bag. So I opened the door, and he was standing there with an IKEA bag.

Now, what brand was expecting inside that IKEA bag was a painting, not just any painting, but a Vincent Van Gogh that had been stolen from a Dutch museum, but when he peaked into the bag.

“The only thing I saw was a pillow full of blood.”

A pillow full of blood. Today on the show, a story about an art detective, the criminal underworld, and what it took to solve one of the greatest art heist in recent history will be right back. This is our class. On this American life, when they mean like, it's a good mystery.

Sometimes it's about really big things, but most times, the little mysteries are the best.

Our lost and found is currently filled with pants. I don't know, I've never seen this happen.

This is true. Mysteries of every size each week, this American life, wherever you get your podcasts. Every week on our series, if you can keep it, we tackle the biggest political stories and why they matter for our democracy. Join me, Jen White Mondays, on the one-day podcast from W.A.M.U and N.P.L.E.L. There have been some fantastic movies released this year,

and we know you can't see them all. So we're recommending some great films that might have flown under the radar to add to your watch list. Listen to pop culture happy hour by the N.P.R.A., or wherever you get your podcasts. We're back with a Sunday story. I'm Aisha Roscoe, and today I'm joined by N.P.R. contributor, Rebecca Rossman,

who has a stranger than fiction story about an art detective and his very unlikely partner, and how, together, they solved one of the greatest art heist in recent history. Rebecca, welcome to the Sunday story. Hi, Aisha. Thanks for having me. So Rebecca, you cover a lot of art and culture stories from your home and Paris, and you know, Paris sounds lovely, and it is. It's a pretty lovely city,

but when I think about art and Paris, of course, I think of the dramatic events that the Louvre last year. Oh, yes. And I covered it when it happened last October. The thieves who broke into the Louvre over the weekend did not make off with the monolisa, but the theft of jewels described as priceless from the museum collection was bad enough. Rebecca Rossman has more from Paris. Let's start with some numbers.

“Four masked robbers, nine precious jewels, seven minutes. That's how long it took to pull off the”

heist. I mean, it was like a scene from the oceans, 11 film, except it was real life. A daylight robbery at one of the world's most famous museums. The police did eventually catch all the thieves, by the way, but it took weeks. And, and remind me, like, what happened to the

stolen jewels? Yeah, over a hundred million dollars worth of precious jewels. Just gone.

Experts think that these likely disassembled the pieces sold the jewels and melted the gold and other precious metals for parts before they got caught. That's a huge loss. Is it just me or does it seem like there has been like an increase in these museum heist? I feel like we keep hearing about these kind of bold, escapades, and you got to call it that, because these are like, all right, so it's like, you know, they're just not normal break-ins,

or it doesn't feel that way. No, you're absolutely right. You know, I felt the same way. But, you know, I wondered, is this just a case of a few recent highs that have just been so

“unforgettable that it's created this sort of illusion of a wider trend? Or is there actually an increase?”

So, I did some research, and what I can say is that I counted over a dozen major museum high since January 2025 alone. And late last year, the International Council of Museums teamed up with Interpol to respond. So, so there is something happening here, like their, like museum heist are trending, so to speak. Yeah, I would say they are trending, you know, it seems so, and when priceless objects are stolen and disappearing to the underworld,

Arthur Brand is one of them, and I went to visit him.

So, in February, I hopped on a train to Amsterdam, where I met with Brand at his apartment,

“and I used to, I have so much I want to tell you about this experience, which I think can”

help shed some light on these recent highs. Well, and I have a lot of questions, right? Like what is an art detective? Great question indeed. An art detective that somebody who helps to police track stolen art or forgeries, and it's not a real job. So, just to explain what Brand means when he says that, you know, he's saying you can't go to university and say, I want to become an art detective. Brand actually studied a bunch of different things, but as it

turned out, I was not that interested in let's say Spanish poetry from the 70s century. So,

then how did he do it? How did he become an art detective? Well, Brand was like a lot of college students. He studied a lot of things, history, languages, poetry, and he was also really interested in art. But for the longest time, he couldn't find a way to turn any of these things into a real job. Then he ends up getting a gig, apprenticing with this art dealer, who introduced him to a shadowy ecosystem of smugglers, thieves, and forgeries. Eventually, Brand found his niche.

He started advising art buyers. The government says, Arthur, we want to buy Picasso. Has it been stolen? What's the price? Is it authentic or forgery? He says that consultation work takes up about half his time. But his real passion is the other half of his time, which is spent on mostly pro bono work, helping recover stolen paintings and other artifacts. Brand told me what

“kind of sealed his reputation is his integrity. I thought the only thing I have to do is to be honest,”

just be honest. You know, in a world of people who betray each other, who backs every child, if you're honest, you have value, you know? Soon he was recovering missing art. And over his 20-year career, Brand says he's helped recover more than 150 artifacts. That includes a Picasso, he tracked down for a chic, a golden ring that belonged to Oscar Wilde and a Salvador Dolly painting. His reputation has grown to the point where he's now a trusted household name

in the Netherlands, and he even has his own documentary TV show. It's called "The Art Effective." I mean, so then he's kind of a star in certain places. He is. Then Aisha in March 2020, Brand got a call

“from the police. He didn't know it yet, but this would become one of the biggest cases of his career.”

A van Gogh had been stolen from the singer Lauren Museum, just outside of Amsterdam. The painting is called "The Personaj Garden" at Nounen in Spring. But Brand quickly realized this wasn't a case he was going to be able to solve alone. He needed someone who already had experience with stolen vengos. My name is Oct. Duram. I live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and 53 years old. I'm known for robbing the van Gogh Museum in 2002. I stole two main things.

Just as Brand is the Netherlands's most famous art detective, Oct. or Alki Duram. It's perhaps the country's most famous art thief. When we come back, Oct. Duram and why Arthur Brand needed him to solve the case of the missing van Gogh. One of the world's most famous art detectives was on the hunt for a stolen van Gogh. He turned to an unlikely source for help. "You have born soccer players, born teachers, born policeman,

I'm a born burger." On the Sunday Story, how an art thief and an art detective set out to recover

a missing masterpiece. Listen now to the Sunday Story from the Up First Podcast on the MPR app.

This is Tanya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. Don't miss my interview with Comic and Storyteller, Ali Sadik. We talk about fatherhood, healing, and how prison changed him. He's been out 29 years, but he says, "The psychological wounds are different than my physical wounds." Listen to Fresh Air on the MPR app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Instead of scrolling mindlessly, engage mindfully with the MPR app,

with a mix of on-demand news stories from the station and your favorite podcast, you can relax without shutting off your brain down low the NPR app today. We're back with the Sunday Story and NPR as Rebecca Rossman. We've heard from

masterpieces. But when another van Gogh is stolen from the singer Lauren Museum near Amsterdam, brand-news he needs help. The man he turns to is an unlikely choice. Art Robber, Oct. Durham. I mean, 15 big heists in the Netherlands, I'm involved with eight at least.

Okay, so it seems he seemed a little proud of that too, Rebecca. He's basically saying that

he's a career art thief. That's right. Beyond art, Durham has also admitted to and spent time in prison for other crimes like bank robberies and financial fraud. I have to say Durham is fascinating. When we met in Amsterdam in February, he was wearing a black baseball cap in these designer-looking sneakers, looking as calm, cool, and collected as you'd probably expect. He says he grew up in a neighborhood in Amsterdam where petty crime was kind of the norm. And I figured out that, hey, I'm quite

good at these things. You have one soccer place, one teachers, born policeman, I'm a born burglar and I cannot explain, I don't know, I'm very good at it. How does someone become very good at being a burglar? You know, I asked Durham that exact question. It's not only the capability of doing it,

“but you have to have the guts. You have to figure it out the way you do it, the infrastructure”

of it all. It's a combination of a lot of things. I have to be relaxed, you know, I don't like violence,

and if it used violence. Durham says he was always calm under pressure, not scared of cops,

not scared of prison, and he took the work seriously. He started small, stealing bikes when he was a teenager, then moving on to robbing banks as a young adult. And eventually, he sets his sights on the place that would make him famous. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Well, you know, go hard, or go home, right? That sounds like that was his approach, but that still takes a lot of guts, right? A lot of guts and a lot of planning. The idea to rob the museum happened by chance,

actually. One day, back in 2002, when Durham was in his late 20s, he was walking by the Van Gogh Museum, and he noticed the walls of the building were really just floor to ceiling windows. So he walks up to a window and taps it.

“Hit the glass, and like, oh my god, this is glass. It's not even a bulletproof or something, you know?”

So he starts to think it through. First, Durham recruited a friend to help him pull it off.

This is what they did. Together, they went to the museum early in the morning, climbed a ladder to access the roof, and then smashed a glass window with a hammer. So now they're in, right? They grab two of Van Gogh's lesser known paintings, view of the sea at Cheveningin, and congregation leaving the reform church in Newton, then they made their escape by shimmering down a rope and running. He says the whole thing took less than four minutes. I mean, that's wild.

And, you know, it reminds me of the Louvre break-in, which was pretty much just smashing grab. I know, exactly. And, and so did Durham say why they chose the paintings they took? Did they pay attention or did they just grab what was close? You know, I was curious about that too.

“Like, maybe he was a big fan of Van Gogh. What did you think of the paintings themselves?”

Do you had any attachment to this painting? No, I thought they were ugly. I didn't like him. My friend stole me. The next time you steal one, take a Rembrandt and say, okay. So the truth I usually show is what you've already caught on to. He knew any Van Gogh would be valuable. So he and his partner just grabbed the first two that they saw. Eventually, Durham found a buyer for the paintings. A mob boss in Italy. Durham says he bought them for 350,000 euros.

I mean, was this mob boss like a big Van Gogh fan? Well, I haven't spoken to the mob boss, so I couldn't tell you whether he was a Van Gogh fan. But that's not really why criminals want paintings like these. Famous stolen art is almost impossible to sell on the open market. But in the underworld, art can become leverage. It's a bargaining chip, which is exactly what made Durham's stolen

Van Gogh's useful, not as art, but as leverage. Now, what do you mean by leverage? What does that mean? Well, let me explain what happened after Durham sold them. So in 2016, this Naples mob boss, was charged with drug trafficking. He was facing a long sentence, potentially 20 years. So he wanted to make a deal. He sent a letter to prosecutors telling them he knew where they could

come to an end. So authorities discovered the paintings inside a kitchen wall at the mobster's

“mom's country home in southern Italy. And in return, the sentence he was facing was reduced from 20”

to only eight years. Oh, okay. I mean, that, that is fascinating. Like that, that's definitely

leverage. Basically, hold in these paintings hostage. What about Durham? Well, he got caught

about a year after the heist. Authorities had been able to identify him using the museum's security cameras. And he was a little bit sloppy. He left a baseball cap at the scene, which was traced to his DNA. He served three and a half years in jail and was given a 350,000 year old fine. Durham told me, though, he had trouble paying the fine. So he went back to jail to serve another nine months. And Ayisha hears where things take a strange turn in his life. So just to explain real quick,

in the Netherlands, prison sentences aren't as stiff as they are, say, in the US. And for nonviolent

“crimes, some prisoners can get leave. It's called open com. You can go every week and you go home”

and during the day you work outside. So when we can, Durham's on leave walking through the streets of Amsterdam near the Van Gogh Museum, in fact. And he walks by this restaurant. All of a sudden, somebody tapped me on the back. And he calls in front of me. It's Arthur Brand. Brand says to Durham. Okay, do you know who I am? He said, of course I know you are the authoritative. Just to give you some context here, Durham's Van Gogh robbery in 2002 happened the year before brand

really launched his career. And like I mentioned earlier, and brand reiterates, it was one of the

biggest cases of its time. Of course, it was interested in that case. Everybody was always talking

about how these two fancores. I saw him as my art enemy, and all he's one of the most famous

“art thieves in the world, and I'm the authoritative. But brand couldn't help also being intrigued.”

He kind of wanted to know Durham better. I gave him my telephone number. But Durham wasn't interested. I threw the number away. But then shortly after that meeting, Durham's weekend furlough is over. He's back in jail, watching TV. And he comes across Brand's documentary series. And I found out how he works. And he works clean, you know, people don't get arrested. It's all about getting the stolen artifacts back. And I liked it. He liked how trustworthy Brand seemed. And to be honest,

he was also curious about the guy. So he finds his number on the internet and gives him a call. And I call him for an out of jail cell. And I said, "Hey, I acted or are you?" And he was quite for about 10 seconds. He was a shock. They agree that when Durham gets out of jail, they'll meet up. And when that happened, both men say they immediately hit it off. It's not such a big surprise if you think about it. In a way, although they're on these opposite paths, both love the thrill of

the hunt. And they speak the same language. So they strike up this unusual friendship. Brand says he could tell Durham things. He couldn't tell anyone else. Like the time he'd recovered,

what he told me was a 15 million year old Picasso. And for one night, it was in his house

before being handed over to the police. And then at night, I needed to tell somebody. So I thought, we'll understand the feeling that I have right now sitting here alone, watching one of the most beautiful Picasso. So I called OK. By this point, Durham says he's sworn off crime. All he wants to do now is relax into retirement. So fast forward to March 2020. Brand gets that call from the police. And they told me author, a new finger has been stolen

from the singer museum in Lauren and I said, "Oh my god, not again." So I mean, this is sounding just like a movie. I mean, somebody has to be writing a script right now. They have to, if they do, they have to credit the Sunday story. Absolutely. They must credit the Sunday story copyright. But you're absolutely right. It really is just like in a movie. The first question, the police asked brand. They said, "Where's OK?" Luckily for Durham, he had an alibi. But the idea that he may be unjustly

accused of the theft infuriates him. Brand says what irritates Durham even more is the theft itself. He said, "Because I am the Fencochti. If you know, I might be retired now. But I have the foccochti. Who do these guys think they are?" Like, yeah, it's like they're coming for his jersey. You know, they're coming for his record. Like a, kind of like an athlete. Exactly. You know, there's only one Jordan and there's only one octave Durham. That's exactly. So to brand,

That said, "OK. What if you and I together will try to find this Fencochti?"

Durham thinks about it. And after making it clear, he will never snitch on another thief.

He starts asking around in the criminal underworld. Asking if anyone knows anything about this missing Fencochti. Meanwhile, brand is hitting up his own sources. Time goes by. Then one day, about six months after the painting happened stolen, a photo shows up on the dark web.

“You know, when you're still a painting, you cannot, if you want to try to find a buyer,”

you cannot put it on eBay. You know, what they do is they make a picture of the painting with a newspaper, a face newspaper next with, as proof I am the owner now, and they send it around. Kind of like a proof of life photo. Yes, exactly. And to Durham and brand, this post is very good news. It means the painting is out there. Maybe it's even recoverable. So they keep hunting.

The police do too. And then a year later, the police have a breakthrough. They arrest the thief.

But they didn't find the painting. A few more years go by. And then finally, in the late summer of 2023, brand gets this text out of the blue. Which says Mr. Brand, do you have the code of silence? And I said, now I'm not a priest. But if I give my word, I will keep my word. And then he said, I know where the Fencochti is. Where it is hidden. This man says, look, I was not involved in this heist. I don't want to get arrested. I just want to get rid of this thing. Because while stealing

a painting may be easy for some people, it can quickly become a huge liability. Brand sends him

a message back saying, okay, you know, I get it. You're not involved. How can I help get this painting

back? But the message doesn't go through. Maybe this guy is blocked brand. I thought, oh my God, he doesn't trust me. But then brand quickly thinks of someone this informant will trust. Someone from his own world, octave Durham. So Brand asked Durham if he will send this informant a message on his behalf. He does. And this time, it goes through. And I said, I don't know who you are.

“I found out that you talked to art. The only thing I can say, I guarantee you don't get into trouble”

if you talk to him. Cops won't come. Nothing is just to recover. Whatever you are, have already. So here's the Netherlands. Most famous art beef backing up the art detective. It's quite the endorsement, Aisha. And that guy knew me. He said, I am no okay. He said, if you didn't have gave me this recording, I want to do it because the guy was terrified. He was a friend's hell. He thought he was set up. A few days go by after that, though, and Brand hasn't heard

anything. Then it's Saturday. And Brand and Durham are invited to this birthday party of a famous Dutch TV presenter. They're in the garden when Brand gets a text from the informant. And he says, I see you. And I looked around and he said, behind that tree. So Brand walks behind the tree. The informant says, look, I'm sorry to scare you like this. I just had to make sure there wouldn't be any police here. And Brand says, okay, okay. And he said, I thought, I didn't trust you,

but when you send this clip from Okhi, I thought, well, if Okhi stands in for him, it must be okay. So I'm going to bring it back. They make this agreement. The informant says, he will come to Brand's house to drop off the painting. Then the big day comes and Brand is obviously nervous, pacing around his apartment. And then at 12 o'clock, the doorbell rang. And I went downstairs and I looked to the window and I saw the guy smiling. And that takes us back to where we started. The blue

Ikiya bag and the pillowcase covered in blood. So I opened the door and it was standing there.

“We didn't Ikiya bag. And I didn't see the painting, Ikiya bag. The only thing I saw was a”

pillow full of blood. I said, what the heck? You're in blood. Okay, well, I gotta try to understand, like, what is the deal with this blood field pillowcase? Well, I can only tell you what the informant told Brand, which is that he cut his finger while he was packing the painting up and that blood got all over the pillow. And when Brand moved the pillowcase away, there it was. The painting, he had been after. I unpacked the thing, and one of the most beautiful moments of my life.

The informant leaves Brand says he knows why the informant decided to return the painting,

the first thing Brand does is call the police, who had been waiting at a cafe nearby,

along with the museum director. They come over. It was so emotional, you know, they have been searching with tens of people. It was, you know, it was such a big case, a stolen finger, and there was a lot of pressure, nationally, and internationally. And then we were standing here

“with the finger. So I asked them, can I have it one night on my wall, and they also had Arthur?”

No way. And what about Durham? Was he there? You know, he wasn't. I think given his past and tension with the police, they decided that probably wasn't the best idea. But there's no denying Durham's role in this recovery. How do you feel that you played a such an active role in this?

Well, that's my f*cked off. And I was really like, yeah, because all the people say,

you still do paintings in Bangkok, did they think of that? Now bring one back, shut up. So I mean, this kind of reminds me, of course, of, you know, catch me if you can with Leonardo the Caprio, where it's like the the main character goals from being chased by the authorities to working alongside them. Yeah, and I have to say, you know, for Durham, he loves this new role now.

“I have something to do. I'm still involved in crime. Good side. Because you must imagine you're”

getting content with people and you do it for a good cause. So he's still in the underworld in a way, just on the other side of it. Brand tells this funny story. The other day we we walked here, the neighborhood and the woman was coming out of our home and she said, I know you, you are the guy who brought back to Picasso, talking about me and I said, yeah, that's correct. And I said, you know, we're staying next to me. That was okay, of course. I said, he's the guy who stole the two

fancores. And she looks at the game bill as you went inside the home. I mean, that's definitely an odd couple. They are quite the odd couple. And I can promise you, they both know it too. These things are more crazy than fiction, you know, you don't see this stuff in movies. Yeah, well, um, maybe it's time for them to kind of make their debut, you know, maybe. And I think it's fair to say, both brand and Durham are not camera shy at all. But Alicia, what stayed with

me most wasn't just how cinematic their story is, it's how unlikely their trust is, you know, brand doesn't pretend Durham didn't steal those paintings. Durham doesn't pretend brand isn't close to the police. But somehow they found a way to use that tension and that history to get

“something stolen back where it belonged. And that's what brought us here.”

So we have love us here. Two and a half hours north of Amsterdam in the city of Grownington is the Growninger Art Museum. Earlier this month, I traveled to the museum with Arthur Brand. I wanted to see him take in the van Gogh that he and Durham had recovered. The person is guarded at Newton in spring. It's home now mounted on its own wall in one of the galleries. When I see this, for me, it's first of all, I think the joy, you know, the joy I experienced.

The painting was done early in Van Gogh's career and still has these classical lines. It shows the garden, a church in the distance and a woman draped in a black coat and wearing

a matching black hat. Brand has a story for her. I always think I hoped that it was

Macho Begemann, his the girl next door. He wanted to marry the parents didn't allow them. The girl tried suicide from Gorgh the Savedon. So in my imagination, this is the love of his life Macho Begemann. Octave Durham wasn't with us on this tour. You can probably imagine why this museum, or, you know, really, most likely any art museum in the Netherlands, wouldn't be ready to welcome him with open arms. But we were joined by the former director

Andreas Bloom. He'd been in the role when the person in the garden at Newton in spring was stolen. And it turns out he'd also been the director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Back in 2002, when Durham stole the two Van Gogh's there. So I had to ask Bloom how he felt about Durham now, especially since he'd helped get this painting back. I'm grateful, but I'm a little bit, I'm a lot of friends. I mean, I mean, it's like, yeah, you're mixed with mixed feelings.

But as you said to him, you know, it's two one now. You know, I toast all two. I recovered one.

And who knows, maybe Durham will do just that. But for now, it was only brand reaction I could get. And I couldn't help but notice his smile as he was looking at the painting. Because beyond interpretations about the art itself, he sees this whole other thing.

“The best thing about this painting is it always gives me hope because I'm such an old”

for many other paintings and other stuff like it's possible, you know, we find it back. Never give up.

And maybe that's the thing about art. The object matters, of course. But it's the story that makes us lean in. People like out of course, of course, without a doubt. But when there was a story attached to it, it gives this extra layer. And now the percentage garden at Newton in Spring has its own story, too. About an architective and art thief. And a stolen vango, they somehow brought back home.

“So Rebecca, what's next for brand and Durham? Durham is teeming up with brand on a new case.”

This one involving a stolen Picasso, they believe is hidden somewhere in North America.

Meanwhile, brand is pursuing a separate case. A statue stolen in the Netherlands with help from two unlikely partners, Chicago area sisters, Evie and Bevy Loostig ages six and nine. Well, Rebecca, thank you so much for that fascinating journey through the world of art, feevery, and recovery. Now you got to make that movie.

I'm on it. You're welcome. And thanks for having me.

This episode of the Sunday Story was produced by Andrew Mombo. It was edited by Jenny Schmidt, production help from Ben Rappaport and Sina LaFreto, fact checking by Jane Gilvin. The engineer for this episode was quacyly. The Sunday Story team also includes Justine Nian and Leanna Simstrom. Irene Lagucci is our executive producer.

“Amaya Shirazko, up first, will be back tomorrow with all the news you need to start your week,”

until then have a great rest of your weekend. Every episode of it's been a minute, NPR is what's happening in culture podcast. Starts by asking three questions. Who? How? Why now? If the culture's asking it, we're talking about it. At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious and indulge your cultural curiosity. Follow it's been a minute wherever you get your podcasts.

We'll break down the zeitgeistie topics that are filling your feed. Hi, it's Terry Gross, host of Fresh Air. Hey, take a break from the 24-hour news cycle with us and listen to long-form interviews with your favorite authors, actors, filmmakers, comedians and musicians, the people making the art that nourishes us and speaks to our times. So listen to the Fresh Air podcast from NPR and WHY.