Attackers Blow Up Gallery in Netherlands to Steal Two Andy Warhol Paintings
In the Netherlands, two works of art by Andy Warhol were stolen from the MPV art gallery in Oosterwijk, NOS reports.
Two more works of art were first stolen and then thrown out on the streets.
‘Two works by Andy Warhol were stolen from a gallery in Oosterwijk, North Brabant, where an explosion occurred last night. Two other works from the same series, ‘Reigning Queens’, were thrown into the streets. This is confirmed by the owner of the MPV Gallery art gallery,’ the statement said.
It is noted that the incident occurred at night. The attackers used explosives to get into the building.
The blast wave knocked out the front door and many windows of the gallery. In addition, the glass in the windows of other houses on the street was blown out.
Security camera footage shows that the attackers took four works from the Ruling Queens series. The artist created them in the 1980s. The silkscreen portraits depict four queens who were in power: Beatrix of the Netherlands, Elizabeth II of Great Britain, Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland.
However, all of them did not fit in the thieves' car, so two of the works were simply thrown out into the street. The thieves disappeared with the portraits of the British Queen and the Queen of Denmark.
The works were exhibited in the gallery before being sold at the PAN Amsterdam art fair, which is scheduled to take place from 24 November to 1 December.
According to gallery owner Mark Piet Visser, the robbery was unsuccessful because all four works were ‘irreparably damaged’. He did not disclose their value, but noted that he was well insured against financial losses.
It is worth noting that in 2021, four similar works were sold for €217,000. ‘They are not that rare,’ said art historian Willem Baars.
However, according to the expert, it will be difficult to sell stolen works. On the one hand, because they are numbered, and therefore immediately recognisable as works that were in Oosterwijk. On the other hand, because they are damaged. ‘So if there is damage, then such a work of art loses its value,’ the expert noted.