Suspect in the Theft of Two Andy Warhol Paintings Detained in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, law enforcement officers detained a 23-year-old man suspected of stealing works by artist Andy Warhol from the MPV Art Gallery in Oosterwijk. This was reported by NOS.

‘The police have detained a suspect in the theft of works of art in the city of Oosterwijk. The theft took place last Friday at the MPV Gallery art gallery. Two works by Andy Warhol were stolen,’ the statement said.

Law enforcement officers conducted searches in several towns and villages. In particular, in the village of Berkel-Enschot, which borders on Belgium, the cities of Hertogenbosch and Oosterwijk. A 23-year-old man was detained during a search in Berkel-Enschot.

A suspected explosive device was found during a search in Hertogenbosch. Experts are currently investigating.

It is noted that the attackers used powerful explosives to break into the building, which caused significant damage to the gallery. The explosion also smashed the windows of neighbouring buildings.

As far as we know, the stolen paintings have not yet been found.

As The Gaze previously reported, two works by artist Andy Warhol were stolen from the MPV Art Gallery in Oosterwijk, the Netherlands. Also, two other works from the same series ‘Ruling Queens’ were thrown into the streets.

The attackers took four works of the ‘Reigning 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, Queen of Denmark, and Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland.

However, all of them did not fit in the 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.