Mesdag collectie - Den Haag

A painting of fishing boats in a cloudy sky hung on the wall of the Dutch parliament for at least two decades, loved by politicians who paid little attention to where it came from.

Currently, specialists are investigating the possibility that the 19th-century masterwork "Fishing Boats off the Coast" by Hendrik Willem Mesdag was looted by the Nazis.

It is a component of a recent evaluation of the art in Dutch museums and public spaces, which follows prior efforts to get stolen objects returned to their rightful owners by the government-backed Restitutions Committee, which has monitored reviews of several pieces of art since 2001.

In an effort to recover more property, primarily taken from Jewish families, the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, which is responsible for the protection and conservation of artefacts that were returned to the Netherlands from Germany after World War Two, is expanding the definition of looted art.

"There is no free will if a family had to sell something to be able to flee to a safe country," spokesperson Dolf Muller said.

The agency's study team will look into 3,500 items over the course of four years, 1,700 of which are paintings.

"The investigation isn't easy," said senior advisor Perry Schrier, likening the work to 80-year-old cold cases.

In 1941, a year after Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands, the picture known as the Mesdag was sold by an unidentified seller through an auction house in The Hague.

After the war, it was found in Germany and transported back to the Netherlands, but study methods at the time were unable to determine where it came from.

Researchers now have access to cutting-edge equipment, improved archives, digitised old newspapers, and cameras that can find nearly invisible text, according to Schrier.

The Mesdag painting is being held in a carefully guarded storehouse in the meantime.

According to Schrier, a small-looking label that was found on the back of the picture and mentions the "Villa Erica" auction house may hold the key to identifying the original owner.

"This makes my research heart beat faster," he said.

If there is evidence that there was a forced sale, the heirs, if discovered, may be able to get their hands on the artwork.

Hendrik Willem Mesdag (Dutch, 1831-1915)

Sunset, 1891