The Hague: An artwork stolen by the Nazis from the world-famous Goudstikker collection has turned up in the family of a notorious SS collaborator in the Netherlands, Dutch art investigator Arthur Brand said Monday.The painting “Portrait of a Young Girl” by Dutch artist Ton Kjelder likely hung for decades in the home of Hendrik Seewardt’s grandchildren, Brand said, calling it “the most bizarre case in my entire career.” The case is similar to a discovery that made global headlines in 2025, when a Nazi-looted 18th-century painting — also from the collection of the late Jewish art dealer Jack Goodsticker — appeared in a real estate ad in Argentina.In the Dutch case, Brand said he had been contacted by a man who had recently revealed two horrifying secrets: that he was a descendant of Seyffardt, and that his family had displayed looted artwork for years. This family member, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Brand that he saw the painting hanging in the hallway of Seyffardt’s granddaughter, who was assassinated by Dutch resistance fighters in 1943.Seewardt, a major Dutch collaborator with the Nazis, commanded a Waffen-SS unit of Dutch volunteers on the Eastern Front.
The New York Times published news of his death on its front page in 1943, and a lavish state Nazi funeral was held for him in The Hague, with a wreath sent by Adolf Hitler. Brand said Seyffardt’s granddaughter told a family member that the painting was “looted Jewish art, stolen from Goodsticker.”
It’s not sellable. Don’t tell anyone.”But a family member wanted the story to go public and contacted Rand, who has made a name for himself cracking several high-profile cases involving stolen artwork.
A family member told De Telegraaf: “I am ashamed. The painting must be returned to the Goodsticker heirs.” The painting has a Goudstikker label on the back and the number 92 is engraved in the frame. Brand searched the archives of the 1940 auction where part of the looted Goudstikker collection was put under the hammer and found item number 92: “Portrait of a Young Girl” by Ton Kelder.Hermann Goering, a senior Nazi official, looted the entire Goudstikker collection when the art dealer fled to England in 1940.
Brand believes that Dutch collaborator Seewardt acquired the painting at auction in 1940, and it was then passed down through the generations. Lawyers for Goudstikker’s heirs confirmed to Brand that the painting had been looted and demanded its return.The family member who contacted Brand also wants to return the painting to Goudstikker’s heirs, but the police are powerless because the theft has exceeded the statute of limitations.The Dutch Restitution Commission, which advises on looted Nazi artworks, is also dysfunctional because it cannot force individuals to return artworks. “The family member believes that public display is the only way to return the painting to Goudstikker’s heirs, where it rightfully belongs,” Brand said. Agence France-Presse
