Andy Warhol’s prints of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Credit: PEOPLE
The Dutch metropolis of Maashorst has confirmed {that a} uncommon print by Andy Warhol was amongst 46 artworks that have been “almost definitely” thrown away throughout a renovation final yr.
The city corridor stated in an announcement that the works have been a part of a set which was then cut up up, with a variety of items being loaned to a neighborhood museum, others positioned within the city corridor, and some returned to the artists. Within the course of, greater than 40 went lacking, and it seems that Andy Warhol‘s Queen Beatrix, a uncommon portrait of the previous Dutch monarch by the legendary pop artist, was a type of that might have ended up within the garbage.
“It’s almost definitely that the artworks have been unintentionally taken away with the garbage,” Maashorst city corridor stated in an announcement.
The possibly misplaced paintings is a portrait of Queen Beatrix, a part of Warhol’s 1985 collection “Reigning Queens”, a collection of 16 prints of 4 monarchs. The famed pop-artist additionally represented Elizabeth II of England, Margrethe II of Denmark and Ntombi Twala of Eswatini (previously Swaziland) in his collection. It’s a few of his greatest recognized work, alongside different visible representations of pop icons like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Mao Zedong.
The prints’ loss is particularly tragic when contemplating that they reportedly survived a heist attempt in 2024, when thieves tried to retrieve them from a museum by detonating a home-made bomb outdoors of the constructing and have been in a position to take two of those prints with them, damaging the opposite two.
Maashorst’s mayor, Hans van der Pas, expressed remorse concerning the incident. “This isn’t the way you deal with beneficial gadgets,” he informed the Dutch state broadcaster NOS. “It’s a critical matter when public property, particularly artwork with cultural and historic worth, is handled so carelessly — nevertheless it occurred, and we remorse that.”
After this incident, the city corridor introduced they are going to be reviewing the procedures and tips for storage, conservation and safety of artworks, since they blame the loss on an absence of insurance policies on this matter.
