Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish art dealer in Amsterdam, in 1938. Photo: National Archief/Wikimedia Commons

A painting stolen from prominent Dutch-Jewish art collector Jacque Goudstikker by the Nazis during World War II has been identified and will be returned to his descendants after being discovered among garbage on the streets of Amsterdam.

The artwork depicts the inside of Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) and was likely painted by Dutch painter Hendrick van der Burgh, art detective Arthur Brand shared on Monday in a post on X. He said Amsterdam resident Robert van der Hoek found it years ago among trash on the street and reached out to him about the looted artwork.

“It was lying among a pile of waste, clearly intended to be removed by the city sanitation department,” Van Der Hoek told the Dutch publication De Telegraaf. “I took it with me because I thought it was a shame to throw it away, and I put it in the cellar. It stood there for years.”

In May, Brand discovered another painting stolen from Goudstikker’s collection. “Portrait of a Young Girl” by Toon Kelder was hanging for years in the house of the granddaughter of notorious Dutch Nazi collaborator Hendrik Seyffardt, who commanded the Dutch Waffen-SS unit of volunteers. Van der Hoek said news about the discovery in May pushed him to find out more information about the painting in his cellar that he found years prior in the trash.

The Amsterdam local said the painting he found had a label on the back that said “Collectie Goudstikker” and an inventory number. He sent photos of the painting and the label to De Telegraaf, which shared them with Brand. The latter was able to determine that the painting did in fact belong to Goudstikker and it will now be returned to his descendants.

RECOVERY:
Last month, we uncovered a Goudstikker painting stolen by the Nazis, hidden for decades by an SS general’s family. Then, a new breakthrough hit. Robert van der Hoek reached out with another looted Goudstikker piece, unbelievably found among Amsterdam’s street trash… pic.twitter.com/1cj93SQ9ET

— Arthur Brand (art detective) (@brand_arthur) July 13, 2026

This is the third Nazi-looted painting from Goudstikker’s collection recovered recently. Last year, “Portrait of a Lady” by Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi was found hanging in the living room of the daughter of high-ranking Nazi officer Friedrich Kadgien. The painting was spotted in an online real estate listing for the home of Patricia Kadgien in Mar del Plata, Argentina. After local police raided the home, the family handed over the painting.

Goudstikker fled the Netherlands with his family in May 1940 after the Nazis invaded the country. They secured passage on the SS Bodegraven, the last ship to leave the Netherlands, but he died in an accident aboard the ship. He left behind approximately 1,400 works of art, most of which were looted by Nazi Party leader Hermann Göring, according to the Contemporary Jewish Museum in California. Part of his art collection was found by the Allies in Germany after the war and given to the Netherlands. In February 2006, the Dutch government returned only 200 pieces of art to Goudstikker’s descendants.