These two Van Gogh paintings were stolen from Amsterdam's Museum in 2002, and were found on the 30th of September 2016 in a house in Castellammare di Stabia near Naples. The exhibition of the paintings in the Museo di Capodimonte is supported by the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, by the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte and financed by the region of Campania. The organisation and the catalogue are curated by Electa.
The paintings “Seascape at Scheveningen before a Storm (1882)” and “The Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church at Nuenen (1884-1885)” are two fundamental early works by the artist. “Seascape at Scheveningen before a Storm (1882)” is one of the first paintings executed by Van Gogh alone, a testament to the debut of the greatest Dutch painter of all time. Upon his daughter’s request the masterpiece had been donated to the Van Gogh Museum in 1936. “The Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church at Nuenen (1884-1885)” is proof of the emotional attachment Vincent had for his childhood home and landscapes, and represents an essential artistic piece since this is the only one of his Dutch paintings to still has its original frame, allowing us to reconstruct the painter’s technique.