NEW YORK, NY.- The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has been sued by JPMorgan Chase & Co as it tries to recover a painting that was usws as collateral by Louis Reijtenbagh.

The painting, "Golden Bend in the Herengracht, Seen from the Vijzelstraat (c. 1672)", made by Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde is at the center of a dispute between the Dutch museum and the American bank which is seeking the repayment of a loan that was made to Monte-Carlo Art SA, a British Virgin Islands-based entity which JPMorgan says is controlled by Reijtenbagh.

"The bank took possession of Reijtenbagh's art collection earlier this month. This painting was also on the list," Taco Dibbits, director of collections at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, said to Reuters on Friday.

JPMorgan has also stated that works of art made by Monet, Rembrandt and Picasso were also included as collateral for the loans and that they have also been taken out of the country.

The Golden Bend is a section of the Herengracht Canal between Leidestraat and Vijzelstraat where impressive canal-side architecture can be seen. This stretch of canal is known as the Golden Bend because of the great wealth of shipbuilders, merchants, and politicians who began building houses here in the 1660s.

Gerrit Berckheyde was christened on 6 June 1638 in Haarlem. He studied under his elder brother, the painter Job Berckheyde and Frans Hals. Together with his brother, he worked in Heidelberg for a while for the Elector Palatine. In around 1660 he returned to Haarlem and in the summer of that year was admitted to the St Luke guild, the local society of artists. In 1698 he drowned in Haarlem's Brouwersvaart canal. After 1660, Berckheyde painted almost only townscapes, mainly of Haarlem, Amsterdam and The Hague. Despite the number of works he painted, and the frequent repetitions, he always produced paintings of exceptional quality.