Warhol art heist: Thieves use explosives, abandon two queens
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 enter the building. Interestingly, they stole four paintings from the gallery but abandoned two. The reason for this is quite curious.
It was a spectacular, though not entirely well-thought-out, heist. During the night from Thursday to Friday (from 31st October to 1st November), artworks were stolen from the MPV gallery on Dorpsstraat in the centre of Oisterwijk.
The burglars, according to local police findings, used an explosive device to force the side entrance to the art gallery. The explosion was so powerful that windows in several neighbouring buildings shattered, and local residents heard a loud bang. "Like a plate exploded," reported a witness 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 II of Denmark. Portraits of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Queen Ntombi Tfwala of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) were left on the street.
Warhol artwork theft. Thieves abandoned two queens
Preliminary findings by local police indicate 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 connection with the PAN Amsterdam Art Fair, which will 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, which are part of a series of 16 silkscreens depicting four queens, were created in 1985, two years before Warhol's death, who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
