An official investigation revealed that the 46 works of art that the municipality of Maashorst in Brabant lost last year “probably” ended up in bulky waste.
One of the lost works is a silkscreen print of Queen Beatrix, which was part of Andy Warhol’s 1985 series Reigning Queens l – a series of 16 rare prints of four monarchs; England’s Elizabeth II, Beatrix of the Netherlands, Margrethe II of Denmark and Ntombi Twala of Eswatini.
This and other works of art, valued at around €22,000 are probably lost forever.
The works used to be owned by the municipality of Uden, one of the municipalities that merged into the new municipality of Maashorst in 2022.
In the run-up to the merger, Uden's art collection was mapped out. A number of works of art were loaned to the Museum Krona in Uden, some are on display in the new town hall and some have been returned to the artists.
Handled without care
In November it became clear that the whereabouts of around 50 artworks was unknown. The municipality reported the matter to the police and called in a research agency to help retrieve the missing pieces.
The agency has now concluded, after thorough research and investigation that 46 works of art most likely ended up being binned, a possibility the municipality itself already suspected.
During the renovation of the town hall, the artworks were stored in the basement, and were not handled with care, the research concluded.
For instance, the artworks were left unprotected, moved a number of times with several pieces even reportedly suffering water damage due to a leak in 2023. The artworks were then taken to the bulky waste at various times.
According to the researchers, the municipality lost sight of the artworks because there was no clear policy or protocol in place during the renovation process. More specifically, there were no guidelines for the registration, storage, conservation and security of the pieces.
It was also never clearly defined who was responsible for which pieces. When the artworks went missing, the investigation also finds that the municipality failed to react quickly enough.
Analysing the results of the investigation by the research agency, the municipality has since acknowledged that there is very little to no hope that the pieces of art will ever be found.
