Family wants painting back from Rijksmuseum: ‘Was confused’ | Inland

She says that in NRC. A voice in her head dictated Oosje, as Mrs. Silbermann is called among friends, to make a sacrifice. If she did, her granddaughter would live. She decided to donate her most precious possession, a painting by Bart van der Leck dating from 1918, to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

If the museum and the civil-law notary concerned had fulfilled their duty to investigate, as prescribed by international museum rules, they could have established Oosje’s bad state of mind, claim the plaintiffs. Because she acted under the influence of a mental disorder, Oosje, who has now recovered, demands that the donation be destroyed.

According to director Taco Dibbits, the Rijksmuseum acted in good faith in the Silbermann case. If the judge decides otherwise, the museum will immediately return the painting received as a gift in 2013 to the donor.

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