October 16th, 2012
07:56 AM ET

Famous modern art stolen from museum in the Netherlands

Paintings by famous modern artists disappeared from an exhibition in the Netherlands in a predawn art heist Tuesday, shutting down an exhibition in the Kunsthal Rotterdam, where works by Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol and Claude Monet are on display.

Paintings of "considerable value" disappeared in the museum theft, spokeswoman Mariette Maaskant said on Netherlands public radio.

The Kunsthal's alarm system went off shortly after 3 a.m. local time, alerting the exhibition hall's private security detail. When security staffers arrived by car, they saw that the paintings were missing, Rotterdam police spokesman Roland Ekkers said. They informed police, who started an investigation.

The works belong to a private collection that is being shown for the first time to the public, according to a Kunsthal statement.

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Filed under: Crime • Netherlands
soundoff (5 Responses)
  1. Sinfully Yours

    Gogh-ing, Gogh-ing, Gone!

    October 16, 2012 at 8:04 am | Report abuse |
  2. Jeff

    I hope they were insured. The paintings were on loan from a private collection. Kind of makes you not trust the poor security of museums. Also hope they will investigate those who work for the museum/ gallery.

    October 16, 2012 at 8:10 am | Report abuse |
  3. Nathan

    I wonder if the people that stole the maple syrup up on Canada are involved? That was a sweet heist.

    October 16, 2012 at 8:46 am | Report abuse |
  4. banasy©

    Still not JIF.

    October 16, 2012 at 11:27 am | Report abuse |
  5. banasy©

    If I were lucky to have an art collection worthy of a museum, one thing I definitely would do is loan them to one!

    October 16, 2012 at 11:32 am | Report abuse |
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