Stolen Dutch paintings offered for sale by Ukrainian militia

Source: The Guardian

Friesland museum from which golden age artworks vanished in 2005 believes security service and far-right party also involved in attempt to sell canvases

A hoard of stolen Dutch golden age paintings is being offered for sale by an ultra-nationalist militia in Ukraine, according to the museum from which the works vanished a decade ago.

The Westfries Museum in Hoorn, 50km north of Amsterdam, said on Monday it suspected members of the Ukrainian state security service, SBU, the far-right Svoboda (Freedom) party, and “art criminals with contacts ... at the highest political level” might also be involved in the attempt to sell the canvases.

The small provincial museum’s director, Ad Geerdink, said it was going public in a last-ditch effort to recover the 24 works, which were snatched along with 70 pieces of antique silverware in a burglary in January 2005.



Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/dec/07/stolen-dutch-paintings-sale-ukrainian-militia