A painting looted by the Nazis has reappeared in the Netherlands after being identified in the possession of descendants of Hendrik Seyffardt, a notorious Dutch collaborator. The work, Portrait of a Young Girl by Toon Kelder, once belonged to Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker and was taken during the Second World War.
The discovery came after a family member, alarmed to learn the painting’s provenance and the family’s connection to Seyffardt, contacted authorities. He then enlisted the help of Dutch art sleuth Arthur Brand, who confirmed the painting’s origin in Goudstikker’s collection. Brand says he was approached months ago through an intermediary by the relative, who said he felt “deep shame about the family past” and demanded the work be returned to Goudstikker’s heirs.
Brand was able to trace the painting to a 1940 auction of looted objects by identifying an auction label and catalog number on the piece. Lawyers for the Goudstikker heirs have since confirmed the work was stolen and are pursuing restitution.
Before the war Goudstikker was the leading Dutch dealer in Old Masters, with a collection of more than 1,200 works. His entire collection was looted during the German occupation, and the claims related to his collection remain among the largest unresolved cases of Nazi-looted art.
Portrait of a Young Girl reportedly entered Hendrik Seyffardt’s possession before his death: Seyffardt, who was linked to the Waffen-SS, was shot in The Hague by resistance fighters in February 1943 and died days later. The painting appears to have passed to his son, who later ran a marketing company that circulated antisemitic propaganda and promoted his father’s volunteer legion and the Hitler Youth. A granddaughter allegedly told a relative the painting should never be sold and that it had been looted.
A female family member who currently holds the painting has denied knowing it was looted. Legal avenues for compelling restitution are limited: statutory time limits have expired in many cases and restitution bodies generally cannot force private owners to give up works.
The case follows other recent recoveries. Authorities in Argentina last year recovered an 18th-century Italian portrait believed to have been stolen by a fugitive Nazi officer about 80 years ago — another painting linked to the Goudstikker trove. For now, Dutch investigators and the Goudstikker heirs continue to pursue a resolution for the Kelder painting.