Arthur Brand traces Toon Kelder to Seyffardt family home

Arthur Brand traced a toon kelder portrait from the Goudstikker collection to the home of descendants of Hendrik Seyffardt. He said Portrait of a Young Girl had hung there for decades before the family link and the artwork’s origin came into view.

Goudstikker Record

Brand said the painting carried a Goudstikker label on the back and the number 92 carved into the frame. He then searched the archives of a 1940 auction and found item No 92 listed as Portrait of a Young Girl, matching the work in the Seyffardt family home.

The match tied the portrait to the collection of Jacques Goudstikker, the Jewish art dealer whose entire collection was looted in 1940 after he fled to England. Hermann Göring seized that collection, and part of it was later sold at auction under the same number Brand found on the frame.

Seyffardt Family Claim

A relative contacted Brand after uncovering two family secrets: descent from Hendrik Seyffardt and the display of looted art for years. The relative said he had seen the painting hanging in the hallway of Seyffardt’s granddaughter, and the granddaughter initially told Brand: “Jewish looted art, stolen from Goudstikker. It is unsellable. Don’t tell anyone.”

The family member who reached out to Brand later told De Telegraaf: “I feel ashamed. The painting should be returned to the heirs of Goudstikker.” A separate relative told the newspaper: “I received it from my mother. Now that you confront me like this, I understand that Goudstikker’s heirs want the painting back. I didn’t know that.”

Dutch Limits On Recovery

Brand described the case as “the most bizarre case of my entire career.” He said lawyers representing the Goudstikker heirs told him the artwork was looted and should be returned, but the police cannot act because the theft has passed the statute of limitations.

The Dutch Restitutions Committee can advise on Nazi-looted art, but it cannot compel private individuals to return artworks. Brand said he has recovered Nazi-looted art from world war two before, including pieces in the Louvre, the Dutch Royal Collection and numerous museums, but the Seyffardt family case places the painting inside a private home rather than a public institution.

For the Goudstikker heirs, the practical next step runs through the family that holds the portrait, not through police action. The case now rests on whether the descendants of Hendrik Seyffardt return Portrait of a Young Girl to the heirs of Jacques Goudstikker.