Theft of two works by Andy Warhol in the Netherlands

Two works by the artist Andy Warhol were stolen during the night in an art gallery in the south of the Netherlandsand two other silkscreens were found abandoned on the street, the press reported this Friday.

The thieves They used powerful explosives to enter the MPV Gallery in Oisterwijk (Brabant) and took two serigraphs representing Queens Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Margaret of Denmark, reported the Dutch media NOS.

“The main door to the gallery was blown out and there is glass scattered throughout the building. Windows on the rest of the street are also broken,” NOS described.

Although very few details are still available about the theft, “it is strange that explosives were used,” Arthur Brand, a famous art detective in the Netherlands, told AFP.

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

What are the stolen works of Andy Warhol?

The works of Andy Warhol, belonging to the series “Reigning Queens” by the Pop Art pioneer, were stored in the gallery to be sold at the PAN Amsterdam art fair, scheduled for November 24 to December 1.

Two other works from the same series, which represent the queen beatrix of the Netherlands and the queen Ntombi Tfwala from Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, were abandoned on the street, since the four works did not fit in the thieves’ car, according to NOS.

“The paintings have considerable monetary value”indicated the local media Omroep Brabant, quoting the owner of the MPV Gallery, Mark Peet Visser.

Arthur Brand He also told AFP that the stolen works were not “unique” and that Andy Warhol had probably made dozens of them.

“Therefore it is easier to sell them than if they were unique works”he added.

The MPV Gallery could not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Made in 1985, two years before Andy Warhol’s death, the “Reigning Queens” series depicts the four queens who were in power at the time.