A Van Gogh painting that was returned in an ikea bag has gone on show again in the Netherlands.
The painting, which was stolen in 2020, has been put on display for the first time. The painting will be on display at the Groninger Museum in Groningen from March 29 to April 15 as part of the 150 Years of the Groninger Museum exhibition. One of the first paintings by the artist was stolen from the Singer Laren Museum where it was on loan from Groningen. The painting's location remained unknown despite Dutch police being able to capture the thief and the man who ordered the painting. Arthur Brand, a Dutch art crime investigator known as the 'Indiana Jones of the art world', was contacted by someone who had access to the painting, which gave him hope for its return. The man dropped the painting off in a blue bag at the Amsterdam house. The painting was stolen from the Singer Museum in Laren.
The return of the painting 'The Parsonage Garden at Neuen in Spring' made international headlines after it was verified by the director of the Groninger Museum. The painting is in the process of being restored by Marjan de Visser. De Visser discovered that Van Gogh originally intended the painting to be a winter scene but later changed it to spring. The painting had originally been painted on linen and then affixed to a wooden frame, unlike the original method of paper on a panel.