Town hall throws valuable Andy Warhol print in the bulky waste bin

By Annette Birschel

Maashorst (Netherlands) - The small municipality of Maashorst is renovating its town hall. 46 works of art are stored in the cellar. But then they are suddenly gone. An investigation comes to a bitter conclusion.

US painter Andy Warhol (†58) was considered the leading representative of Pop Art.
US painter Andy Warhol (†58) was considered the leading representative of Pop Art.  © Horst Ossinger/dpa

According to an investigation, almost 50 works of art have ended up in bulky waste in the Dutch municipality of Maashorst.

The works include a valuable screen print of the former Dutch Queen Beatrix by US artist Andy Warhol, according to the municipality. The works are presumably lost forever.

At the end of last year, Maashorst discovered that 46 works were missing and alerted the police. An official investigation was also launched.

The value of all the artworks is estimated at around 22,000 euros; the screen print by pop artist Warhol from his famous 1985 Queens series alone was worth around 15,000 euros.

According to the report, the works of art had not been stored properly when the town hall was renovated. They were presumably stored in the cellar and damaged by moisture and dust, so that they were thrown away.

Valuable works of art improperly stored in the cellar

It was not possible to establish exactly when the works of art were disposed of.

"This is not the way to deal with valuable things," Mayor Hans van der Pas told the local Radio Omroep Brabant. "But that's what happened and we regret it."