Daring art thieves used explosives to break into a Dutch art gallery and steal a print of Queen Elizabeth II by renowned visual artist Andy Warhol.
Blowing up the gallery door to gain access, the thieves made off with two prints from an iconic set of four known as the ‘Reigning Queens’, leaving the last two badly damaged canvases on the street.
The MPV gallery in Oisterwijk, in the province of North Brabant, saw glass fly through the building as a group of “amateur” thieves used heavy explosives in a tactic described as “bizarre” by leading Dutch art detective Arthur Brand.
Brand, who previously made headlines for the recovery of works of art such as a missing Picasso and a stolen Van Gogh, highlighted the uniqueness of this heist.
Warhol’s ‘Reigning Queens’ series was on display at the gallery ahead of its scheduled auction at the PAN Amsterdam Art Fair later this month.
The print of Queen Elizabeth II was one of two pieces that art thieves managed to successfully make off with during a brazen heist in the Dutch town of Oisterwijk.
The painting had been part of Andy Warhol’s famous ‘Reigning Queens’ series, which was due to sell later this month.
Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands looks at her engraving in the Warhol series. It was the other job with which the thieves managed to successfully escape.
Gallery owner Mark Peet Visser told local media that the collection was expected to fetch “a fairly considerable sum.”
However, art inspector Brand disputed this claim, stating that the stolen art would likely be just one of several copies made.
Visser added that the explosion was so “violent” that neighboring buildings were damaged.
The ‘Queens Reigning’, who in addition to Queen Elizabeth II, included Margaret II of Denmark, Beatrice of Holland and Ntombi Tfwala of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland).
All four were in power in 1985 when the American pop artist created the series.
Police are continuing their investigations into the botched robbery and forensic experts examined the remains from the gallery on Friday.