Thieves in the Netherlands used explosives to blow open the doors of an art gallery on Friday, making off with two rare screen prints by American pop artist Andy Warhol.
According to MPV Gallery owner Mark Peet Visser, the suspects also abandoned two more works which were badly damaged in the street as they fled.
Visser shared with the Associated Press that the suspects attempted to steal all four works from Warhol’s 1985 “Reigning Queens” series. The Warhol portraits include renderings of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and Queen Ntombi Tfwala of Swaziland (now Eswatini).
A man takes an image of a screen print depicting Queen Elizabeth II, one in a series of sixteen prints of four queens titled Reigning Queens, 1985, by Andy Warhol at museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Oct. 9, similar to a Warhol work stolen from a gallery in Oisterwijk, Netherlands, on Friday. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
In a phone interview with the Associated Press, Visser called the heist “amateurish.” Visser recounted the entire heist was recorded on security cameras.
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He said, “The bomb attack was so violent that my entire building was destroyed, and nearby stores were also damaged. So they did that part of it well, too well actually. And then they ran to the car with the artworks, and it turns out that they won’t fit in the car.”
People look at screen print depicting Queen Elizabeth II, one in a series of sixteen prints of four queens titled Reigning Queens, 1985, by Andy Warhol at museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Oct. 9, which is similar to a Warhol work stolen from a gallery in Oisterwijk, Netherlands, early Friday. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
“At that moment, the works are ripped out of the frames, and you also know that they are damaged beyond repair, because it is impossible to get them out undamaged,” added Visser.
The stolen portraits included those of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Margrethe II, while the damaged portraits of Queen Beatrix and Queen Ntombi Tfwala were left on the street.
Screen prints depicting Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, part of a series of sixteen prints of four queens titled Reigning Queens, 1985, by Andy Warhol. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Visser declined to estimate the value of the signed, numbered works, which he had planned to showcase as a set at an upcoming Amsterdam art fair.
Police are actively investigating and appealing for witnesses in this case. Forensic experts examined the destroyed gallery on Friday.
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Mark Peet Visser with the MPV Gallery did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
