Dutch art investigator Arthur Brand, globally recognized for cracking high-profile stolen art cases, revealed a groundbreaking discovery Monday: a long-lost painting looted by the Nazis from the iconic Goudstikker collection has been found in the possession of the descendants of one of the Netherlands’ most infamous Nazi collaborators. The work, *Portrait of a Young Girl* by 20th-century Dutch artist Toon Kelder, is believed to have hung unnoticed on the walls of the Seyffardt family home for more than 75 years, in what Brand calls the most extraordinary case of his entire career.
The discovery echoes a 2025 global headlines-making find, where another Nazi-plundered piece from the Goudstikker collection was uncovered in an Argentine property listing, reigniting global interest in the hundreds of artworks still missing from the legendary collection. Jacques Goudstikker, a prominent Jewish art dealer based in Amsterdam, fled the Netherlands for England in 1940 as Nazi forces invaded, leaving his entire 1,300-piece collection behind. Top Nazi official Hermann Göring seized the entire collection within months, dispersing many works at public auctions later that year.
The current case was set in motion when an anonymous descendant of Hendrik Seyffardt reached out to Brand with two startling revelations: he came from a line of high-ranking Nazi collaborators, and his family had kept the stolen artwork for generations. The anonymous man told investigators he spotted the painting hanging in the hallway of Seyffardt’s granddaughter. Hendrik Seyffardt, who led a Dutch volunteer Waffen-SS unit deployed to the Eastern Front, was the highest-profile Dutch collaborator assassinated by Dutch resistance fighters in 1943. His death made the front page of *The New York Times*, and the Nazi regime held a state-funded funeral in The Netherlands’ capital The Hague, where Adolf Hitler personally sent a wreath to honor his death.
Brand’s investigation confirmed the artwork’s provenance: the painting bears an original Goudstikker collection label on its back, and the number 92 is carved directly into its frame. Cross-referencing with archives from the 1940 Nazi auction of looted Goudstikker works matched the number and description to Kelder’s portrait. Brand concluded Seyffardt acquired the piece at that auction, and it was passed down through his family over the decades. According to testimony from the anonymous descendant, Seyffardt’s granddaughter acknowledged the painting was stolen Jewish property, noting it was “unsellable” and instructing family members to keep its existence secret. But the anonymous descendant, who says he feels deep shame over the family’s connection to the stolen work, pushed to make the story public, telling Dutch daily *De Telegraaf* “the painting should be returned to the heirs of Goudstikker.”
Seyffardt’s granddaughter has pushed back against claims she knew the work was looted, telling the outlet she inherited the piece from her mother and did not know of its stolen origins. “Now that you confront me like this, I understand that Goudstikker’s heirs want the painting back. I didn’t know that,” she said.
Lawyers representing the Goudstikker heirs have already confirmed the artwork was looted and formally demanded its return. But legal avenues for recovery are limited: the theft falls far outside the Netherlands’ statute of limitations, leaving police with no authority to seize the piece. The Dutch Restitution Committee, the national body that advises on the return of Nazi-looted art, also lacks the legal power to compel private individuals to surrender stolen works. The anonymous descendant has chosen public exposure as the best path forward to pressure the family to return the portrait to its rightful owners.
Brand, who has been nicknamed the “Indiana Jones of the Art World” for his track record of recovering high-value stolen art, said this find outstrips any other discovery in his career. He has previously recovered Nazi-looted works from major institutions including the Louvre and the Dutch Royal Collection, but said “discovering a painting from the famous Goudstikker collection, in the possession of the heirs of a notorious Dutch Waffen-SS general, truly tops everything.”