In the last 12 years, two major art thefts occurred in the Netherlands: one theft in 2005 in Hoorn at the Westfries Museum and one theft in 2012 in Rotterdam at the Kunsthal. This chapter is part of a larger research project concerning the criminal dynamics of art theft in the European Union. It is mostly a conceptual case study of these two thefts; however, it is empirically embedded in a larger quantitative research project, which analyses all art thefts as registered by the Interpol Works of Art Database since 1950 in 15 European Union countries. The Netherlands case study discusses the thefts, the conceptual framework in which these thefts can be embedded, and the implications the thefts had on the Dutch art world. The Westfries Museum and Kunsthal thefts are without doubt two of the biggest thefts in the Dutch art world since the beginning of the twenty-first century, both in terms of cultural and economic value.

doi.org/10.4324/9781351026826, hdl.handle.net/1765/115788
Arts & Culture Studies

Oosterman, N. (2019). From canvas to ashes. Understanding the implications of the Westfries Museum and Kunsthal thefts for the Dutch art world. In Transnational Crime. doi:10.4324/9781351026826