Two works by American artist Andy Warhol from a series about queens created in the 1980s were stolen from an art gallery in Oisterwijk, Netherlands.
Intruders robbed the MPV gallery overnight using high explosives, according to owner Mark Peet Visser, taking four screen prints from Warhol’s “Reigning Queens” series that were to be sold at an art fair in Amsterdam.
Andy Warhol created the works in the 1980s, portraying four queens of that era: Britain’s Elizabeth II, Denmark’s Margaret II, Dutch Beatrix, and Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland.
The portraits of Queens Elizabeth and Margaret were stolen, while those of the other two were left on the street, Visser told public television NOS.
The gallery owner reported that it was a “planned theft” and explained that the thieves could not take all the works from the Warhol series, since video surveillance images showed that they did not fit in the vehicle used.
Although they could not take all the silkscreens, the gallerist regretted that the four pieces suffered “irreparable damage” when they were removed from their frames, considering the result “a great loss.”
The strong explosion tore off the entrance door of the gallery and left debris and glass scattered both inside the building and on the street.
Source: Observadora
