Nazi-looted portrait found in Dutch SS leader’s home: art detective

The Hague: An artwork looted by the Nazis from the world-famous Goudstikker collection has surfaced among the family of a notorious Dutch SS collaborator, Dutch art detective Arthur Brand said on Monday.Brand said Dutch artist Thun Kelder’s “Portrait of a Young Girl” likely hung in the homes of Hendrik Seifert’s descendants for decades, calling it “the strangest case of my entire career.” The case is similar to a discovery that made global headlines in 2025 when an 18th-century Nazi-looted painting – also from the collection of the late Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker – appeared in a real estate ad in Argentina.In the Dutch case, Brand said he was approached by a man who had recently discovered two horrific secrets: He was a descendant of Seifert, and his family had been displaying looted art for years. The unnamed family member told Brand he saw the painting hanging in the hallway of the granddaughter of Seyffardt, who was assassinated by Dutch resistance fighters in 1943.Seifert was one of the Netherlands’ highest-ranking collaborators with the Nazis, commanding a Waffen-SS unit of Dutch volunteers on the Eastern Front. In 1943, the New York Times published news of his death on its front page and he was given a lavish Nazi state funeral in The Hague, complete with a wreath from Adolf Hitler. Brand said Seifert’s granddaughter told the family that the painting was “Jewish looted art, stolen from Goodstick. It cannot be sold. Don’t tell anyone. “But the family member wanted the story to go public and contacted Brand, who had made a name for himself by solving a number of high-profile art theft cases. The family member told The Telegraph Daily: “I am ashamed. The painting should be returned to Goodstick’s heirs.” The painting has a Goudstikker label on the reverse and the number 92 is engraved on the frame. Brand searched the archives of a 1940 auction where part of the looted Goudstikker collection was put up for sale and discovered item 92: Toon Kelder’s Portrait of a Young Girl.When Goudstikker fled to Britain in 1940, high-ranking Nazi official Hermann Goering looted his entire collection. Brand speculates that Dutch collaborator Seyffardt bought the painting at auction in 1940 and that it was passed down from generation to generation. Lawyers for the Goudstikker heirs confirmed to Brand that the painting had been stolen and demanded its return.Brand’s family was contacted in hopes of returning the painting to Goodstick’s heirs, but police were unable to do so because the statute of limitations for the theft had expired.The Dutch Restitution Commission, which advises on looted Nazi art, has also been hampered because it cannot compel individuals to return art. “The family member believes that public exposure is the only way to hope to return the painting to Goodstick’s heirs, where it rightfully belongs,” Brand said. AFP