CODART, Dutch and Flemish art in museums worldwide

JPMorgan Chase & Co lays claim to a painting by Berckheyde recently acquired by the Rijksmuseum

Information from several Dutch newspapers and Reuters, 17 April 2009

The American bank JPMorgan Chase & Co sues Dutch businessman Louis Reijtenbagh. The bank states he failed to pay back more than $23 million in loans and that he unlawfully moved valuable artwork by Rembrandt, Picasso and other artists out of the United States that had been put up as collateral. Among the artworks is a painting by Gerrit Berckheyde, recently acquired by the Rijksmuseum.

In a reaction to the Volkskrant newspaper Taco Dibbits, director of collections in the Rijksmuseum, stated that the Rijksmuseum is investigating the legitimacy of the claim.

Huub Blankenberg, director of the Stichting Nationaal Fonds Kunstbezit, which supported the acquisition of the work, is confident the work will remain in the museum’s collection.

At the moment the work stars in the exhibition Pride of place: Dutch cityscapes of the Golden Age in the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Events


Related news