A powerful explosion at 03:05 am tore through the MPV Gallery on Dorpsstraat in Oisterwijk, a city in the south of the Netherlands. This in turn allowed burglars to enter the art gallery and steal several high-value Andy Warhol artworks in what appears to hae been a strategic and thought out art heist. According to Dutch regional broadcaster Omroep Brabant, the blast was so strong that it ripped the gallery’s front door from its hinges, shattering windows in ten neighbouring buildings and damaging signage throughout the vicinity. No injuries were reported; however, the blast caused extensive property damage and raised security concerns among local residents.
Gallery owner Mark Peet Visser revealed that the thieves targeted four silkscreens from the iconic Reigning Queens series by American pop artist Andy Warhol. Released in 1985, two years before Warhol’s death, the portfolio depicts four reigning queens from that era:
Released as a portfolio in 1985, just two years before Warhol's death, the series of images is one of the artist's largest and most iconic portfolios, with sixteen silkscreen prints depicting four of the reigning queens from that period:
Queen Ntombi Twala who has been the Queen Mother of Eswatini (present day Swaziland since 1986);
Queen Beatrix who reigned from 1980 to 2013 in the Netherlands;
Queen Elisabeth II who reigned from February 1952 until her death on 8 September 2022 in the United Kingdom;
Queen Margrethe II who took the throne in Denmark in 1972 after the passing of her father, Frederick IX, and who is still in power today. When she succeeded her father, she became the first ruling queen of Denmark since 1412. As of Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022, Queen Margrethe is currently the only queen regnant in Europe.
In the explosion's aftermath, the thief or thieves left the silkscreens of Queen Ntombi Twala and Queen Beatrix on the pavement but, having ditched the frames of the remaining two, managed to successfully make off with the silkscreens of Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Margrethe, fleeing the scene in a Peugeot, which officers later discovered abandoned on Wolvensteeg.
The gallery's owner, Mark Peet Visser declined to disclose their value when asked by the Dutch press, although he did relay that the works were well insured. Andy Warhol defined his silk screening in the most traditional of ways. Each of these were produced using Lenox Museum Board and we signed in pencil and given numeric designations which will make them difficult to sell on the licit market.
At this stage, no suspects or motives for the burglary have been disclosed and evidence collection and analysis of CCTV footage from nearby locations remains ongoing. Police are urging anyone with information to come forward as the investigation continues.
Founded in 1992, the MPV Gallery specialises in contemporary and modern art and has operated internationally, drawing art collectors from across the globe. The explosion and theft, which has shocked the local art community, also underscore rising concerns about the security of high-value artwork in small galleries.
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