Van Gogh, Cezanne Included : Dutch Recover Purloined Art Valued at $52 Million

AMSTERDAM —  An undercover officer posed as a buyer of stolen art to set up a raid at a hotel Tuesday that recovered three stolen masterpieces worth up to $52 million, police said.

The works by Dutch painters Vincent van Gogh and Johan Jongkind and the French artist Paul Cezanne were recovered in a pre-dawn raid on the Pullman Hotel. Police spokesman Klaas Wilting said they were about to be sold for 1.5 million West German marks ($1.14 million).

Burglars took the paintings from Amsterdam’s Municipal Museum on May 20.

Police said they arrested three suspects, a 36-year-old seller and two prospective buyers aged 32 and 44. All are of Dutch nationality but were not identified further in keeping with standard police practice.

Recovered were “Carnations,” an 1888 work by Van Gogh; the 1894 still life “Bottle With Apples” by Cezanne, and an 1874 painting by Jongkind, “The House of Maitre Billaud in Nevers.”

The Van Gogh was found inside the hotel, and the other paintings were in a car outside, all wrapped in blankets, police said.

Wilting said museum director Wim Beeren told him that the Cezanne had a small scratch but that the other paintings were undamaged.

During the past week, police received anonymous tips that “buyers were being solicited abroad,” Wilting said. “We got hard evidence of that early this week, and that’s when we decided to act.” He would not say why the price was set in West German currency.

No Guards

During the theft, a ground-floor window was smashed before dawn to gain entry to the Municipal Museum.

The museum’s 3,200 art works, primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries, have been guarded during the night only by an electronic alarm system since 1975, when guards were removed to save money.

Beeren, the museum director, speculated after the burglary that the theft was commissioned by a private collector, since it would be very difficult to sell the paintings.