Frans Hals Painting Stolen Three Times
I think you’re going to be surprised when I show you this painting by Dutch old master Frans Hals which has been stolen not once, not twice, but three separate times.
Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer
Of course, we’re going to chat about the painting first. Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer is an oil on canvas painting by Frans Hals the Elder. He created this work around 1626. It depicts a boy looking into a mug of beer (as the name would suggest), someone looking into a mug refers to an old Dutch word for gluttony or someone greedy for more. Some argue that this painting was one in a series that depict the five senses with this one representing sight, Two Boys Singing to represent hearing, and The Smoker for smell.
Additionally, you’ll notice a second boy peering over the shoulder of the boy with the mug in this painting, this type of figure is referred to as an accomplice and is common in many of Hals’ paintings in the 1620s. You can also see accomplices in Two Boys Singing and The Smoker.
You might be saying to yourself, ok that’s all interesting but I still don’t get why it was stolen three times. Great question, we’ll get to that.
First Robbery
Before we talk about why we have to talk about the three robberies. The first one happened in 1988 and I haven’t been able to find a ton of information on it. What we do know is that Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer along with Forest View With Flowering Elderberry by Jacob van Ruisdael were stolen from the Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden Museum in Leerdam, Netherlands which is a museum in a smaller town. Police investigated the crime and the paintings were recovered three years later in 1991.
Both paintings returned to their home in the Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden Museum and there they stayed until 2011.
Second Robbery
On April 27, 2011, Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer and Forest View With Flowering Elderberry were stolen again! This time the police investigation was much shorter and they were able to locate the paintings six months later on October 28. Four men were convicted of this theft.
Following the return of the paintings the museum finally stepped it up on security. Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer and Forest View With Flowering Elderberry as well as the other most valuable paintings in the museum’s collection were moved to a separate area and the public is only allowed to view them under supervision. Sadly, this didn’t stop the third robbery.
Third Robbery
In the early morning of August 26, 2020, an alarm was set off at the Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden Museum. By the time the police arrived at 3:30am they found that the back door had been forced open. When they went inside, the perpetrators and Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer were nowhere to be seen. The mayor of the Vijfheerenlanden municipality that includes Leerdam (where the museum is) said that they were all deeply saddened by this theft and hoped that the painting would be recovered soon.
The police have said that their investigation was expansive, calling on forensic specialists and art-theft experts from the national department.
Not a lot was released about the details of the investigation but then, in April 2021 an arrest was made in the town of Baarn, Netherlands. The man arrested was suspected of stealing Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer this most recent time as well as van Gogh’s The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen (which, if you’ll remember from a previous article, was stolen in March 2020). Neither painting was recovered at the time of this person’s arrest but detective Arthur Brand told the media that he probably didn’t know where the paintings are now since they are moved around so quickly by criminal gangs. On September 24, 2020 the man was convicted of both thefts and sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
So Why This Painting?
That’s THE question. There are a couple of explanations for why this work continues to get stolen. First, its extremely valuable. Like $18 million valuable so of course it’s going to be a target just because of that. Second, it’s housed in a smaller museum with a worse security system (even after the upgrades) than large, famous museums in big cities which makes it easier to steal. Third, other people have stolen it before. Stay with me here, some speculate that the person who stole Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer this most recent time may not have known how much it was worth but they stole it because others had stolen it before them and therefore it must be important. Likely it’s a combination of all those factors which cause this Hals work to be especially vulnerable.
As of now the painting has not been recovered but efforts are ongoing to bring it home.
Works Cited
Arnold, Amanda. “This Painting Has Been Stolen Three Times?” The Cut. 2020. https://www.thecut.com/2020/08/dutch-painting-of-two-laughing-boys-stolen-for-3rd-time.html
“Frans Hals Painting ‘Two Laughing Boys’ is Stolen for the Third Time”. Dutch News. 2020. https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/08/frans-hals-painting-two-laughing-boys-is-stolen-for-the-third-time/
“Treble Dutch: £13m Old Master Painting Stolen for a Third Time”. Brussles Morning. 2020. https://brusselsmorning.com/treble-dutch-13m-old-master-painting-stolen-for-a-third-time/3030/