Warhol's royal portraits stolen in explosive Dutch heist
Two artworks by the American artist Andy Warhol were stolen during a nighttime break-in at the MPV art gallery in Oisterwijk, Netherlands. The thieves used an explosive device to gain entry into the building. Interestingly, they initially stole four paintings from the gallery but abandoned two. The reason for this is quite curious.
It was a spectacular, though not entirely well-planned, heist. During the night from Thursday to Friday (from October 31 to November 1), artworks were stolen from the MPV gallery on Dorpsstraat in the centre of Oisterwijk.
According to local police findings, the burglars used an explosive device to force the side entrance to the art gallery. The explosion was so powerful that it shattered windows in several neighbouring buildings, and local residents heard a loud bang. "Like a plate exploded," a witness reported to omroepbrabant.nl.
According to the BBC, the thieves initially stole four paintings from Andy Warhol's "Reigning Queens" series. Ultimately, however, they took two works depicting Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Queen Margrethe of Denmark. Portraits of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Queen Ntombi Tfwala of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) were abandoned on the street.
Warhol artwork theft. Thieves abandoned two queens
Preliminary findings by local police suggest that the thieves escaped by car, and the two artworks were likely abandoned for a mundane reason—the portraits did not fit in the vehicle.
Warhol's artworks were stored in the gallery in preparation for the PAN Amsterdam Art Fair, set to take place at the end of November. The paintings were to be exhibited for sale as a set. Local media reported that the stolen artworks are worth a "considerable sum of money."
The works, part of a series of 16 silkscreens depicting four queens, were created in 1985, two years before Warhol's death. Warhol is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
