Stranger than Fiction The Cornfield by Jacob van Ruisdael

I've dropped into the wonderful Ulster Museum to get my own viewing of the 17th century work The Cornfield, by acclaimed Dutch landscape artist Jacob van Ruisdael. Not only is this painting a classic as regards because of the esquisite painting and becasue of who the artist was it is also fascinating, ( and you would hardly believe this) , because it has been stolen on 3 occasions over the last 50 years.
The Cornfield was among 19 paintings stolen in 1974 when an IRA gang that included British heiress Dr Rose Dugdale raided Russborough House in Co Wicklow, the stately home of art collector Sir Alfred Beit, a former British MP.
Years later in 1986 many of the Beit paintings, including The Cornfield, were stolen again from Russborough House by a 13-strong gang in what was the Republic's biggest ever art theft.
On that occasion the culprits were Dublin criminals led by the infamous Martin Cahill, portrayed by Brendan Gleeson in 1998 movie The General.
The Cornfield was stolen for a third time from Russborough House in 2002, before being returned once more to the Beit collection.
It has now been given to National Museums Northern Ireland through what is known as an 'acceptance in lieu' scheme.
The painting was offered by the trustees of the Alfred Beit Foundation in lieu of tax. The deal has settled a tax bill worth £1m.
The Cornfield is now on display in the Life and Light Dutch and Italian Painting exhibition at the museum. Come and see it for yourself!
Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achievement when Dutch painting became highly popular.
Prolific and versatile, Ruisdael depicted a wide variety of landscape subjects. From 1646 he painted Dutch countryside scenes of remarkable quality for a young man. After a trip to Germany in 1650, his landscapes took on a more heroic character. In his late work, conducted when he lived and worked in Amsterdam, he added city panoramas and seascapes to his regular repertoire. In these, the sky often took up two-thirds of the canvas. In total he produced more than 150 Scandinavian views featuring waterfalls.

[andybrown]

You should have stolen it again for the laugh!😂