Theft of two works by Andy Warhol in the Netherlands

Two works by the artist were stolen during the night from Thursday to Friday from an Art gallery in the south of the Netherlands, while two other screen prints were found abandoned in the street.

Two works by artist Andy Warhol were stolen overnight from Thursday to Friday from an art gallery in the south of the Netherlands, while two other screen prints were found abandoned in the street.

The burglars used heavy explosives to enter the MPV Gallery in Oisterwijk (Brabant), and seized two screen prints representing Queens Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Margrethe of Denmark, reports the Dutch media NOS.

“The front door of the gallery has been blown out and there is glass all around the building. The windows on the rest of the street are also broken,” describes NOS.

Although we still have too little information about this theft, “it is strange that explosives were used,” Arthur Brand, a famous art detective in the Netherlands, told AFP.

“This is not common for art thefts,” added Mr. Brand, known for having found works by Picasso or Van Gogh in the past.

“The paintings are worth a considerable amount of money”

Works by Andy Warhol, from the Pop Art pioneer’s “Reigning Queens” series, were stored in the gallery for sale at the PAN Amsterdam art fair between November 24 and December 1.

Two other works from the same series, representing Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Queen Ntombi Tfwala of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, were abandoned in the street, the four works not fitting into the criminals’ car, according to NOS.

“The paintings are worth a considerable amount of money,” local media Omroep Brabant said, citing MPV Gallery owner Mark Peet Visser.

Arthur Brand told AFP that the stolen works were “not unique” and that Andy Warhol had probably created dozens of them. “So it’s easier to sell them than unique works, but not that much,” he added.

The MPV Gallery could not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP. Produced in 1985, two years before Andy Warhol’s death, the “Reigning Queens” series represents the four queens who were in power at that time.