A painting once owned by the famous Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker has been found and will go back to his family. The painting shows the inside of Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) and is likely by Hendrick van der Burgh, a Dutch Golden Age painter.
A Remarkable Discovery
The painting's journey is quite unusual. Decades ago, an Amsterdam resident named Robert van der Hoek saw it among trash on the street. He stopped his car and saved it, thinking it was a shame to leave it there. He kept it in his cellar for years.
Earlier this year, van der Hoek read a report in De Telegraaf about another Goudstikker painting that had been found. This made him realize his own painting might also be from Goudstikker's collection. He remembered a label on the back of his painting that said "Collectie Goudstikker" with an inventory number.
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Start Your News DetoxHe sent photos of the painting and its label to De Telegraaf. The newspaper then asked art detective Arthur Brand to check them. Brand confirmed with certainty that the painting was part of Goudstikker's collection. He compared the images to a black leather notebook Goudstikker used to own, which listed over 1,000 paintings. Brand believes the painting was bought around 1925.
The Goudstikker Collection's Fate
In 1940, Goudstikker fled the Netherlands when Nazi Germany invaded. He left behind about 1,400 paintings, mostly Old Master works. He and his family boarded the SS Bodegraven, the last ship to leave the Netherlands for England. Sadly, Goudstikker died on the ship after falling through an open hatch at night.
The Nazis then looted his art collection, with Hermann Göring taking many pieces. After the war, Allied forces found over 200 of these paintings. They gave them to the Dutch government, expecting them to be returned to Goudstikker's rightful heirs. However, the Dutch government only returned 202 paintings to his family in 2006.
Goudstikker's black notebook, found with him, has been vital in the effort to reclaim his art. The Jewish Museum even featured it in an exhibition of his collection in 2009.
This isn't the only Goudstikker painting to make news recently. In 2025, a Nazi-looted painting by Giuseppe Ghislandi was found in a real estate listing in Argentina. Argentine authorities quickly recovered that painting.
