Warhol Bomber-Burglar Busted Abroad

Authorities have apprehended one of two suspected burglars accused of bombing an art gallery in the Netherlands and stealing works that the late Pop Art icon and Montauk homeowner Andy Warhol painted.

The 23-year-old accused art thief, whose name was not immediately released, allegedly used explosives to break into the Dutch gallery on Oct. 31 and made off with two screen prints from Warhol’s “Reigning Queens” series before he was arrested, NL Times reported. The use of explosives is considered an unusual tactic for art thieves.

Investigators reportedly recovered the stolen prints of British Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Margrethe of Denmark while two additional Warhol works from the same series were found still in the gallery. Warhol had created the series in New York City in 1985, two years before he died at age 58.

The value of the works was not immediately clear, but Warhol’s art is considered blue chip and frequently fetches millions of dollars at auction. Warhol’s iconic portrait of Marilyn Monroe dubbed “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” holds the record for the most expensive American artwork ever auctioned when it sold for $195 million in 2022.

The Pop artists’ former estate in Montauk — where he hosted the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Jackie Kennedy, and many others — sold for $48.7 million in 2015.