A Dutch town hall has admitted that it “most likely” accidentally disposed of 46 artworks, including an Andy Warhol print of the former Dutch queen, during renovation works last year.
Maashorst municipality said the works, including a 1980s silkscreen print of Queen Beatrix worth about €15,000 (£12,800), disappeared during work on a town hall last year.
An investigation said the artworks were stored in a basement during renovations and a lack of guidelines for storing the artworks could have been among the reasons why they ended up being thrown away.
Mayor Hans van der Pas told public broadcaster Omroep Brabant: “That’s not how you treat valuables. But it happened. We regret that.”
A statement by the municipality on Thursday said the artworks were put into storage during work on a town hall in Uden – which is being incorporated into the neighbouring municipality of Landerd to form the Maashorst municipality.
“It’s most likely that the artworks were accidentally taken away with the trash,” they said.
A report by investigators found that some of the artworks were stored in wheelie bins in the basement and were “not handled with care”, according to daily newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.
The report concluded: “Ownership was not properly established, no policies and procedures were established regarding the renovation and insufficient action was taken when the artworks turned out to be missing.”
It went on to say that a lack of guidelines for registration, storage, conservation and security of the artworks, were also contributing factors.
Local media reports that the 46 artworks altogether were worth around €22,000 (£18,800) and the Maashorst municipality said it was unlikely they will ever be found.
Queen Beatrix reigned as queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until she abdicated in 2013, when she was succeeded by her son King Willem-Alexander.
The Queen Beatrix print was part of Warhol’s series Reigning Queens, which comprised of 16 colourful prints of four monarchs, including the late Queen Elizabeth II, Margrethe II of Denmark – who abdicated in 2023 – and Queen Ntombi Twala of Eswatini, previously known as Swaziland.
Warhol, considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century, created the prints in 1985 – two years before his death.
In November last year, Warhol prints of Queen Beatrix and Ntombi Twala were stolen – and abandoned – during a heist on a Dutch art gallery.
Local police at the time said thieves took four silkscreen prints from the MPV Gallery in the North Brabant province and fled by car.
But the portraits of Queen Beatrix and Queen Ntombi were later abandoned because they did not fit in the vehicle, NOS reported at the time.
